tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38495321885223572262011-11-27T18:05:54.059-07:00Little house in the big suburbsAnnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.comBlogger1561100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-57845367163975642022011-02-21T07:52:00.002-07:002011-02-21T07:57:55.982-07:00

The Mother of urban homesteading: http://www.motherearthnews.com/urban homesteading: http://www.rootsimple.com/Denver urban homesteading: http://www.denverurbanhomesteading.com/sustainable urban homestead: http://sustainableurbanhomestead.com/the old urban homestead: http://www.oldvaapples.com/Leda's urban homestead: http://ledameredith.net/wordpress/

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-85663983857897206242011-02-21T06:00:00.000-07:002011-02-21T06:00:07.199-07:00

When I imagine an urban homestead I picture three different huge gardens I've lived next to. The first was the side yard of the depression-era couple my family lived next to when I was young. At some point in the distant past they bought the city lot next to the house and transformed it into a huge garden -- a huge ring of roses and other flowers in the front, vegetables in the back half,

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-50389976240110312432011-02-05T12:09:00.002-07:002011-02-05T12:24:43.711-07:00

This was posted on the blog of one of my favorite local CSAs:"We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change."~Al GoreAnd while I appreciate that Al is working on keeping his statements more sound-byte friendly, the writer in me sees my high school creative writing teacher's red pen alongside the

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-80998138440512095162008-10-28T14:42:00.002-07:002008-10-28T16:16:53.576-07:00

A couple weeks ago I ran into a couple on the bus who needed directions to the Boulder International youth hostel. They asked about other things to do in the neighborhood and I thought I'd post my list here. The hostel is located on "The Hill", a residential and light retail area just west of the CU Boulder Campus and I'm only including things that one can get to on foot or with a short bus

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-73865097874682111132008-10-19T10:11:00.004-07:002008-10-19T10:27:40.153-07:00

I woke up to a nice synchronicity today. Tatsuya Ishida, who draws the webcomic Sinfest, neatly mirrored something I've been thinking a lot about over the past month or so. Namely how in the past 40 years we've come to a place where it's nearly normal to buy everything we need from some corporation or another. Here's the strip.'nuf said for today. Have a great weekend.

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-36941769469615363772008-10-07T10:42:00.003-07:002008-10-07T11:03:59.480-07:00

I grew up in a libertarian household that was won over to the Republicans in the age of Reagan's "government is the problem" 80's. I have an innate skepticism about turning to the government for solutions. But in the late 80's I started getting involved in churches and learned a different lesson. In a church, the pastor and the board can set a direction, but people are basically going to do what

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-9114220368422288082008-10-02T10:01:00.002-07:002008-10-02T10:22:07.327-07:00

I haven't posted here in a while... trying to do more direct activism lately. But I'd like to pass on some excellent sources for understanding what's going on with our finances.This is an interview (half an hour) from Fresh Air discussing how our current crisis parallels the Great Crash of 1929, which marked the end of the Roaring 20's and the beginning of the Great Depression. What I appreciate

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-18321604715545465032008-06-17T10:30:00.004-07:002008-06-17T12:04:49.140-07:00

In my real life, I'm active in a vibrant, urban church. In fact, I'm on both the Fundraising Committee and the Board. This after a decade of doing youth and young adult ministry. One of the things I am wrestling with now is how I can do a better job of integrating my concerns about climate change and peak oil into my work at the church.My concerns are very much influenced by my faith. I think

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-6974606855182549572008-06-11T19:31:00.002-07:002008-06-11T19:44:23.673-07:00

Thanks to The Joy of Cooking, I have finally, actually made lemonade at home.I grew up with the powdered or frozen concentrate kind, and I've found myself buying bottled lemonade, or the kind in a carton, over the last few years. This was frustrating, because my tastebuds tell me it's basically a simple drink, and I've been using more fresh citrus in my cooking.But my experiements with mixing

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-21667848428214727482008-06-06T08:45:00.002-07:002008-06-06T10:42:57.086-07:00

Two big pieces of news this week, as far as I'm concerned. The first is that it seems the SUV is finally starting to go the way of the tail fin. That's a win.And then Senate Republicans blocked passage of the first, very tentative, US bill to address global warming. Their argument was that the bill would eliminate jobs and raise gas prices... which seems painfully short-sighted to me.When it

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-30733592534800333512008-06-03T11:29:00.004-07:002008-06-03T12:20:47.401-07:00

This week the elements of the stew that is my thoughts contain these: Reaction to reading the books Littleheathens and Affluenza, a good friend of mine calling me a hippie -- a few times, and starting to read Simple Prosperity, a follow-up book to Affluenza, written by one of the Affluenza writers and local guy David Wann.I don't mind getting called a hippie. Some of my favorite people in my

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-76664360188245216822008-05-13T16:07:00.005-07:002008-05-14T10:56:08.902-07:00

Good article in The Economist last week exploring the reasons why energy efficiency is not pursued more vigorously as an avenue for investment. The bottom line reasons why it should:It returns 10% to 17% annually. (The S&P 500 historically gets 12%.)It requires reduces carbon emissions.The reasons why it hasn't been more actively pursued by individuals:Individuals tend to demand a return on

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-74085496948586629132008-05-12T14:53:00.002-07:002008-05-12T15:00:35.892-07:00

I'd heard that Colorado HB 1270 -- which would prevent HOA's from restricting solar installation, shades designed to lower energy costs, installation of attic fans and vents, and from installing clothelines -- had passed the House, but I didn't hear through the same grapevines what had resulted.I did some poking around today, and found articles on a number of HOA sites that suggested there would

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-63028696714656761902008-05-05T13:56:00.004-07:002008-05-05T14:06:51.436-07:00

The AP is reporting that up to 10,000 people may be dead in Myanmar as a result of a cyclone there.I feel like stopping there. One second of silence for every person would be 2 1/2 hours of silence.When 3000 people died on 9/11, the US mobilized it's armed forces for a massive response. This is 3 times that number. We are a nation that talks about the value of the life of every human being... so

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-45925037944258924292008-05-02T12:04:00.005-07:002008-05-02T13:43:38.375-07:00

I now have 17 months of energy-use data stored in a Google Docs Spreadsheet for easy viewing from whatever computer I happen to be at. The results are very satisfying.In the months of February, March, and April 2007 -- when I started blogging -- I was using more than 800 kWh of electricity a month (892, 814, 826). By changing all the incandescent bulbs to fluorescent, replacing four light

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-5400666594806804412008-04-23T08:33:00.002-07:002008-04-23T09:16:11.090-07:00

Well, I'm gainfully employed again. At least for three months. I'm mostly doing data analysis, but I get to help the company I'm working for "go green" for a few hours a week. It's nice to be in a company that needs to tell employees to use the recycling they're already providing instead of being in one that says "no, you can't take the cardboard to the recycling center because recycling just

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-4289053609954674462008-02-15T09:28:00.002-07:002008-02-15T09:41:37.668-07:00

Another point raised in The 11th hour is that our economy is based on consumer transactions. We buy things, consume them, and trash them. We create money at the purchase point of that transaction, and that's what we base our national performance numbers on. So when Dick Cheney says that responding seriously to global warming will harm the economy, he's talking about this kind of economy.As the

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-45642582070549750282008-02-14T09:07:00.002-07:002008-02-14T09:41:51.251-07:00

I don't think a person who doubts that the climate is changing or who doubts that the observed change is human-controlled or who believes that Earth can recover from anything we do to her is in the same boat as a holocaust denier. So I don't want to call them Climate Change Deniers.... but I'm struggling for a phrase for folks who are less convinced because I'm going to talk about them today.My

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-31458477359883442122008-02-12T08:19:00.000-07:002008-02-12T08:35:22.579-07:00

I got to see Leo DiCaprio's documentary on the environmental crisis posed by global warming -- and what we can do about it -- a couple of weeks ago on campus. When it was in the theaters I was a little too overwhelmed and a little too down to make hearing more bad news a priority. But the film wasn't really about bad news... at least for anyone who's seen An Inconvenient Truth and March of the

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-90660883211091288372008-02-11T16:07:00.000-07:002008-02-11T16:28:16.585-07:00

It's a common theme on environmental blogs to talk about why one person's behavior makes a difference. I generally stay away from that, believing that folks who care to read blogs like this are looking for things to do and stories about what happened to keep them in the game. However, a couple of weeks ago, I caught a story about the American Airlines pilot's union. (Original story here.)Here's

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-81225406941297553342008-02-07T16:12:00.000-07:002008-02-07T16:28:18.207-07:00

A friend of mine reminded me a couple of weeks ago that unemployment is a great time to try out new things without the stress of wondering what bosses and co-workers might think. So I've been scoping out bike/bus options for places within my preferred travel range. I took two buses in to Whole Foods last night and camped out with Grist's "Wake up and smell the planet" and a cup of chai (soy milk)

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-86089534802918908522007-12-21T12:57:00.000-07:002007-12-21T13:48:06.597-07:00

One piece of reducing our waste is to use things more than once after they are produced. This is an ancient tradition, but one that was branded as “old-fashioned” during the rise of the consumer/convenience culture of the 1950's and beyond. It is time to bring it back. But if we are going to present “being green” as a sustainable, positive live choice, we have to keep the convenience part.I go to

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-80603272802742576572007-12-11T12:58:00.000-07:002007-12-11T13:08:41.801-07:00

Christopher Kimball's "Letter From Vermont" for December landed in my inbox today. In it he writes:Christmas in Vermont is, if nothing else, practical. Back in the 1960s, Marie Briggs, the baker, was up before dawn 364 days a year to cook for the farmhands. On Christmas Day, however, she got dressed up (still wearing sensible black shoes and with her hair in a bun) and was taken out to dinner by

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-45232595239109026932007-12-10T10:21:00.000-07:002007-12-10T10:44:31.048-07:00

As I surf the web for blogs I like, I get caught up in trying to categorize myself. I'm not a strict buy nothing new crowd, but I take inspiration from them. I still drive, but I've cut my gas use in half and continue to look for further ways to reduce my driving. I do carbon offset and buy green energy, but I don't think those are a total solution. I re-make things and fix things and hang out

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-12115363678467790802007-12-08T08:38:00.001-07:002007-12-08T09:09:22.094-07:00

A couple of days ago, No Impact Man posted a link to this video on "The Story of Stuff". It's an entertaining video, but a few hours later I was reminded of how frustratingly general advice can be ignored. I was stuck in traffic and idling behind a huge SUV that sported a bumper sticker that said "One nation has 5% of the world's people, uses 50% of the world's resources, and generates 50% of the

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-8509331975400508062007-11-26T08:47:00.000-07:002007-11-26T09:01:48.411-07:00

Most nights, I can get to the bathroom and take care of business without a light. I have good night vision, for one, and there's a street light outside my southern facing windows for two. But every now and again... say I go to brush my teeth after working at the computer for a-while, or I bump something off the sink and onto the floor... I need a light. The fixture in the bathroom has four bulbs

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-20685088458422493342007-11-20T09:49:00.000-07:002007-11-20T09:56:38.480-07:00

Note: I meant to put this up yesterday, but had a keyboard short, a software malfunction, and an internet outage. Makes you appreciate the days when things just work. ;-) I've started writing on gather.com along with my posts here. Gather is a social networking site started by American Public Media (distributors of such fine radio programs as Marketplace, The Splendid Table, and A Prairie Home

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-8035791273683009762007-11-16T07:07:00.001-07:002007-11-16T07:43:25.630-07:00

I talked about some of the thoughts my unemployment is triggering here, more today. So much of our economy is about buying and selling stuff! We don't make as much of the stuff in the US today, instead moving those jobs to places where labor is cheaper. We know we're over-buying. How many of the decorating shows on cable really start with going through and making sure only the stuff you need is

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-67893037653889235342007-11-15T07:57:00.000-07:002007-11-15T08:03:09.655-07:00

American Public Radio's "Marketplace" program has an ongoing series on Consumerism called "Consumed". The landing page for the series is here. When I first heard the promo spot for the series, I hoped they'd be looking more at what our world might look like if retail purchasing was not the engine for our economy, but they may get there yet.As it is, the articles on trash, second-hand economies,

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-39288794892013694072007-11-14T11:45:00.000-07:002007-11-14T12:24:32.388-07:00

One of the great problems of the US trying to comply with Kyoto is that it would require getting Americans out of their cars. Apparently this is an even more deadly rail of US politics than messing with Medicare. Why? I've come to believe it's because our egos are tangled up with driving... what we drive, how we drive, what other people see when they see us in our cars, the whole shebang.How does

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-67517640012507216042007-11-13T15:03:00.000-07:002007-11-13T16:07:53.189-07:00

Soon after I was laid-off, a friend of mine asked me to do a carbon footprint analysis on her company's product for the marketing department. It was an interesting project and one I jumped on.Poking around the web for the current standards of what is and what is not included, I discovered their request showed up in my in-box days after the very first Carbon Footprint for Consumer Products

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-5050158919488510272007-11-12T13:11:00.000-07:002007-11-13T15:03:47.365-07:00

I love fireplaces. I know people who hate them, but I love them. I have fond childhood memories of getting to build fires and light them any time I wanted to at a certain neighbor's house, so there's a sense of connectedness and competency that comes from seeing one. Another part is the coziness that the smell of pine smoke hanging in the winter air evokes. I've never had to depend on a

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-74150229742214603842007-11-09T08:00:00.000-07:002007-11-09T08:25:55.854-07:00

My friend Monkey and I've been chatting in the comments section of my September Quote of the Day about what the "a lot" in the quote means. The quote comes from a forthcoming book Sustainable Energy Without Hot Air, by David J.C. MacKay as noted in this post.MacKay is a Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Physics Department at the University of Cambridge and the gist of his book is to take

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-27866643748996957672007-11-08T13:28:00.000-07:002007-11-08T14:00:42.562-07:00

Man! Just when I'm ready to start posting again, I have the freaky experience of being laid off, again, on Tuesday, September the 11th. I have a couple months of perspective on looking, and while I'm not employed yet, I think I have enough objectivity to start to talk about it.I've been thinking a lot about my Grandfather. When he returned home from his time in WWII, he needed a job. He found one

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-13163870016720116272007-09-11T16:08:00.000-07:002007-09-11T16:13:49.790-07:00

We all use power. So to achieve a "big difference" in total power consumption you need almost everyone to make a "big" difference in their own power consumption. If everyone does a little all that we will get is a little.- David J.C. MacKaySustainable Energy Without Hot Air (page 271, 9/9/2007 version)A book in progress at withouthotair.com

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-13856276076125868972007-07-03T11:11:00.000-07:002007-07-03T11:29:37.371-07:00

The first Cheney-related scandal of this administration wasn't the claim that the VP's office is exempt from the records-keeping of the executive branch, but was entitled to the executive privilege of that branch; it wasn't the outing of an undercover agent; or hiring a platoon of former buddies to run a war at inflated prices. It was, in fact, the list of attendees to a meeting in the VP's

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-75887777711960384222007-07-02T15:09:00.000-07:002007-07-02T15:30:14.866-07:00

First, apologies for the unintentional vacation. I got a bit overwhelmed.100-degree days are now here on the western edge of the prairie. The house continues to feel cool as long as it gets a chance to cool off overnight (fans) and we get it closed up by 7:30 a.m. or so. I was curious about what the difference actually is and so got a cheap thermometer last week. It turns out that my house can

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-48041597679438228402007-06-26T11:08:00.000-07:002007-06-26T11:24:11.824-07:00

Over the month of June I've been chronicling my shift to being a regular three-days-a-week bus rider. I thought an update on the benefits would be good:I arrive at work happier and less stressed out. I am going to the gas station about half as often. I am catching up on my reading. Since my riding plan includes an hour walk, I am finally back in a regular exercise habit. It's probably a

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-42938385756444225302007-06-25T15:40:00.000-07:002007-06-26T11:08:29.503-07:00

I was going to skip posting today, but I guess if I'm gonna post progress, I should post setbacks also.I tried making a haybox cooker this weekend out of a sleeping bag and a cooler. The sleeping bag was a recreational 35 degrees and up bag. The cooler was a Coleman plastic chest cooler. I did a container of rice and a container of lentils. After 6 hours, the containers were still a little warm,

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-59102781639127400112007-06-22T10:14:00.000-07:002007-06-22T10:50:14.095-07:00

It's Friday afternoon and time for a story. I have had a few opportunities to live at the 10% consumption level instead of the 100% consumption level. One of those was during my college years when I took a year off and traveled in the Gulf of Mexico and to Central America with a missionary organization.This was an international, not a US group, and for the first part of the trip I lived on a

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-57400784567952238352007-06-21T10:12:00.000-07:002007-06-21T10:49:09.745-07:00

I had an interesting set of experiences coming into work this morning and they got me to thinking about two Ray Bradbury works that use very different transportation settings.In "The Illustrated Man", published in a collection in 1951, the title character travels in a world where being on foot is normal. It is the ride in a car that is unusual. But that's slipping away. The story is partially

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-74283408794411636792007-06-20T10:51:00.000-07:002007-06-20T11:23:30.319-07:00

Way back in 1993, after I finished six months of managing a fast-food burger joint, I read Diet for a New America and announced I was going vegetarian. I remember it lasting a year or so, but I doubt I made it that long as the change wasn't permanent. What was permanent was a prominent place for beans in my diet and a love of investigating new foods.However, tofu -- that staple of the vegetarian

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-10325164310033901552007-06-19T15:19:00.000-07:002007-06-19T16:05:56.897-07:00

In addition to recovering old usable tools from thrift stores (and learning to use them), here's my current re-using list. (I post these hoping that someone in need of a good, recycling-based business idea will run across them!)Clothing fabric. Americans throw away an average of 68 lbs of clothing a year. We clothe entire nations in our cast-offs, while buying new ourselves. I was at an event

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-37325347390944355392007-06-18T08:40:00.000-07:002007-06-18T09:01:09.549-07:00

This week's recipe is less about tons of ingredients and heading off in amazing new directions in cooking and more about recovering cooking knowledge.I picked up several pounds of split tomatoes at the farmer's market with the intention of making tomato sauce for my very first time. Then on the way home, my clever chef friend and I stopped at a local thrift store where she spotted a food mill --

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-16154520226329058442007-06-14T10:20:00.000-07:002007-06-14T11:03:06.025-07:00

This morning I had an appointment and I'd planned all week to drive in to work to make the time fit. But when I got up this morning, I was actually brainstorming about how to walk/ride my bike/take the bus and make the time work. I ended up driving anyway, but it felt really weird. If it is the consuming that is feeling weird and the conserving that is comforting and normal, I must be making

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-19196222197537081302007-06-12T07:34:00.000-07:002007-06-12T08:16:50.135-07:00

I have always hated being graded on the curve. My physics teacher in high school tried to explain that the curve is just a way of assigning grades to the natural distribution in class and plotted several sets of test scores on the board to demonstrate how sensible it was, but that only increased my resentment. I am much more of the kind of person who likes a list of expectations that I can live

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-17363643875691635842007-06-07T13:05:00.001-07:002007-06-07T13:39:35.436-07:00

Since it's still early in the growing season, my local farmer's market has tons of greens for sale, I thought I'd post about what I do with them. This week's recipe is so incredibly simple--once you know how to do it--that I feel embarrassed putting it up. But I have to admit that in spite of cooking at least one meal a week for the last 30 years, I didn't braise greens until about 3 years ago,

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-12398732031574200182007-06-07T08:40:00.000-07:002007-06-07T09:56:48.730-07:00

Ahhh. There's nothing like reading Barbara Kingsolver on the problem of cheap food over breakfast and Bill McKibbin on the field of Hedonics on my bus ride to get the big questions rolling around in the hopper. Am I happier when I ride the bus?Of course that's a chicken-and-egg question. This week I've ridden on the three days that I woke up happier. In addition, I know I am happier after

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-27953181262430281252007-06-05T13:27:00.000-07:002007-06-05T13:47:57.356-07:00

I just got my utility bill for the month of May. Finally! Spring has sprung.Here's the bottom line:MonthKWhThermsFeb89279Mar81434Apr82635May54218The big difference from April into May was the average temp went from 49 degrees to 60 degrees. As mentioned here before, we helped the thermostat figure out it was spring by turning the heat off at the beginning of the month, and that definitely shows

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-20846986562877672732007-06-05T10:12:00.000-07:002007-06-05T10:37:58.178-07:00

I woke up this morning crabby and depressed. I think my body needs a recovery day after suddenly being called on to walk 5+ miles a day instead of my usual 2-ish. So I drove in to work. After several glasses of water, a couple glasses of tea, some extra vitamin C and a recovery drink, I'm feeling better.I'm also enjoying a CD I apparently downloaded from iTunes and never listened to. Better than

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-23592976201694480162007-06-04T11:18:00.000-07:002007-06-04T11:48:31.515-07:00

My Dad is one of those guys who doesn't believe that humans are causing whatever global warming we might be experiencing. Luckily, his beliefs don't translate to an over-consuming lifestyle. He loves the job he's created and the building he bought for it is less than 10 miles from the house. He is an engineer, but he can also mark the day when he canceled the Scientific American subscription he'd

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-91586581331523277912007-06-04T08:46:00.000-07:002007-06-04T09:07:18.799-07:00

I took the plunge and got a bus pass for the month of June. I also made an appointment to ride this morning with a friend who works at a neighboring building to keep both of us to our good intentions. She travels for work, so I won't always have her company, but I'll take it when I can get it. My roommate also offered to drop me and my bike off on her way to work when I want to do something

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-33487045224142428142007-06-01T07:54:00.000-07:002007-06-01T08:41:49.843-07:00

In the manner of time in my life, Low Impact Week snuck up on me. I guess that's appropriate in a way, it keeps me from making this week easier by doing extra work last week to prepare for it.I have been meaning to ride the bus to work from my local park-n-ride, I have the coupons and everything. And for the last week my cat has been waking me up about 5. So this morning I grabbed the opportunity

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-45758455810173587022007-05-31T08:15:00.000-07:002007-05-31T08:37:12.685-07:00

From Louise Hay on Saturday morning:The turmoil in the world in regard to weather is a reflection of the turmoil in the state of human consciousness.I'm not convinced there is a direct-line connection between human thought and the material world, but I am convinced that we act in ways that are consistent with our beliefs about the world, whether we are conscious or unconscious of those beliefs. I

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-31259714811756918972007-05-30T10:27:00.000-07:002007-05-31T08:35:23.075-07:00

Update: Let's make potato salad out of potatoes instead of onions. ;-)I got my first delivery of food from Coastalfields last week and I am making my way through the spinach, salad greens, green garlic (early garlic pulled like green onions), and cilantro. I don't have all the ingredients on hand for salsa right now, so I decided to use what I had... and made a cilantro potato salad for the

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-29418214091563230402007-05-30T08:27:00.000-07:002007-05-30T08:49:14.480-07:00

I mentioned a week or so ago that the next culprit I was looking to replace was my fridge. I ran the Kill-A-Watt meter on it over the weekend and it came up with 1.75 kilowatt hours in 24 hours. Extrapolating that out, it's using 638.75 kWh in a year, which is significantly worse than its efficiency rating new. So, yes, I do need to plan for a new fridge.The fridge is using 53.23 kWhs a month,

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-656233107317244792007-05-25T10:50:00.000-07:002007-05-25T09:50:50.328-07:00

From Bill Phillips' talk on Saturday morning:When you are trying to make a change, you have far more power to make it when your heart is in the change than when you try to do it out of your head alone.Bill's new work is on the process of transformation -- inspired by his work in helping people transform their bodies through exercise and nutrition, but also bigger than that. In this point in his

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-61508011527922526942007-05-24T10:53:00.000-07:002007-05-24T11:17:03.803-07:00

Popular Mechanics article on what's keeping wind power in the US from reaching the proportions of European generation and how to fix that.Colorado Matters (a locally-originated public radio program) reports on why Tri-state, an electricity provider for rural Colorado is planning to build just one coal plant instead of their original three. (Link will launch a .wmf file.)Colorado Matters reports

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-76212273079280998872007-05-23T21:41:00.000-07:002007-05-24T08:10:51.423-07:00

I got my Kill-A-Watt meter in the mail on Monday and finally had a chance to test it out tonight. I took pictures of four lighting combinations in my bedroom.The first is my florescent nightstand lampThat's 18 watts, which means that it takes about 55 hours of continuous usage to use one kilowatt hour of electricity. (The units my bill is counted in.)The second is my full-spectrum SAD light59

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-74203720391598363812007-05-23T21:30:00.000-07:002007-05-23T21:41:35.086-07:00

One thing that keeps echoing in my head is something Wayne Dyer said in the keynote session on Friday night:Three lies of the ego:I am what I own.I am what I do. I am what people think about me.It's easy enough to understand that "I am what I own" includes what I refuse to own, what I'm too poor to own, what I'm too rich to own and what I could never imagine owning. And it's pretty easy to see

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-15524567104430667992007-05-23T12:22:00.000-07:002007-05-23T12:43:30.584-07:00

I am still working on getting thoughts from the weekend grounded and me-centered, so instead I'm gonna post my recipe for the week. I have been experimenting with food as part of living not-so-big, and I have a weekly schedule of making a big pot of something at the beginning of the week and eating on it for most of my meals.This week I'm having my version of the Southwestern Bowl sold by Amy's.

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-378010893832468232007-05-22T13:49:00.000-07:002007-05-22T14:01:00.257-07:00

Hi all - back from Vegas and full of lofty thoughts. I'm working on writing about that, but I'm gonna focus on the practical to get grounded again.I finally found some dim-able screw-in CFLs, though not at Lowe's, Ace, Home Depot, Wal-mart, or the family owned hardware store in Boulder. I got them from Amazon. This is listed as an 8-pack, it comes as 4 two packs, though lovingly packed. I put

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-61116491195808851802007-05-17T10:29:00.000-07:002007-05-17T10:38:12.413-07:00

Blogger ate my post yesterday -- twice -- and I'm running around getting ready for a trip today. I am bringing my ancient laptop with me and am planning to update from the road... but if not, I'll be back Tuesday, with a report on my first delivery from Coastal Fields.I am following through with the initial stages of the CitizenRE ReNU program. There are still lots of hurdles, but I think it

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-81826724767586029272007-05-16T09:44:00.000-07:002007-05-16T09:45:31.180-07:00

Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so. - John Stuart Mill

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-28676406660609344502007-05-15T10:21:00.000-07:002007-05-15T14:41:27.069-07:00

I started reading Plenty on Sunday and finished it up this morning over breakfast. It has been touted as a variety of things, but it is the autobiographical work of a literary couple as they embark on a food experiment -- discovering what grows within 100 miles of Vancouver B.C.. It is a story of food, but more than that it is a story of the people who make food and the people who consume it.I

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-43752478248938533742007-05-15T09:16:00.000-07:002007-05-15T14:25:34.549-07:00

Yesterday I started experimenting with my third major change in eating. The first was shifting to making hot and iced tea at work instead of reaching for the company-provided soda. The second was popping corn in my $4 thrift-store air popper and bringing it for my afternoon snack instead of reaching for chips or sweets. And now I'm exploring using honey as my primary sweetener.Yesterday the honey

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-50963204264691040442007-05-14T12:34:00.000-07:002007-05-14T12:48:10.657-07:00

One of the things that went under the microscope in a big way after my Inconvenient Truth Oscar Win epiphany was my travel plans for the year. Up until that point, and even that night, I'd planned on flying to Ft. Lauderdale to take a 5 day cruise to the Bahamas for my big vacation this year.That's been shelved. I can hardly get a train to Ft. Lauderdale, as the Amtrak route through the south was

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-48909732291524040632007-05-14T09:46:00.000-07:002007-05-14T09:57:28.221-07:00

I've gotten both of my favorite shopping bags at my local natural foods store (Vitamin Cottage) but they're available on-line too. Not as cheap as re-using plastic or using up canvas bags, but these bags have their benefits too:The Chico Bag: Made by a company in Chico, CA, these bags are woven nylon and tuck into remarkably small places. They have their own pocket which makes them smaller than a

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-30095660207103293602007-05-14T08:53:00.000-07:002007-05-14T09:17:04.566-07:00

I got into gardening mindset this weekend. It looks like the arugula I planted a month ago has bolted, despite being on the north side of my house. I moved its pot into the shade.With the help of my friend the chef, I discovered that the previous owner had at least oregano, rosemary, chives, and peppermint planted, and they're coming back. I added cilantro, and basil to the herbs.When I bought

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-81762786601369680852007-05-11T07:19:00.000-07:002007-05-11T14:31:44.248-07:00

No Impact Man's post Wednesday got me to thinking about the power of one person to change the world. Mahatma Gandi and Martin Luther King Jr. are evidence that it can be done, Theodore Kaczynski is a reminder that -- paradoxically -- one can't do it alone. The Lord of the Rings is a modern epic about the tension of everything important resting on the shoulders of individuals and the power of

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-18295249452031550422007-05-11T07:18:00.000-07:002007-05-11T07:19:09.303-07:00

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. Henry David Thoreau

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-13562905979610161622007-05-10T10:20:00.000-07:002007-05-10T10:46:57.145-07:00

Usually when I post an interesting book I haven't read, I put it under a links heading. But Sarah Susanka's new book, the not so big life, is getting a post.One reason is that her very first book -- The Not So Big House -- inspired me over a decade ago to put how I am living under a microscope. It challenged me to focus on the things about homes that increase comfort and to see houses as places

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-4323171019304179062007-05-09T15:32:00.000-07:002007-05-09T15:53:26.658-07:00

I really am kicking around a content post for today... but the things that are grabbing my heart and mind aren't settling down into coherent thoughts easily. And it doesn't help that I've come across four mind-expanding sites in the last 24 hours. So, in case I don't get something of my own posted today, the following sites may provide some grist for you:Coastalfield Farms and Ranch -- Looks to

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-64504612830727653382007-05-09T12:11:00.000-07:002007-05-09T12:24:19.137-07:00

Stuff to do:The Colorado Renewable Energy ConferenceThe Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living AssociationAnd a couple of films:The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak OilKilowatt Ours: A Plan to Re-energize America

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-61515372356610734742007-05-09T10:38:00.000-07:002007-05-09T10:39:11.965-07:00

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."- Robert F. Kennedy

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-31581194165783982682007-05-08T15:38:00.000-07:002007-05-08T15:42:20.155-07:00

The Climate Registry begins. It's an association of US states and tribes with this stated purpose:Develop and manage a common greenhouse gas emissions reporting system with high integrity that is capable of supporting multiple greenhouse gas emissions reporting and emissions reduction policies for its member states/tribes and reporting entities; andProvide an accurate, complete, consistent,

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-14007577671314025802007-05-08T15:01:00.000-07:002007-05-08T15:02:05.796-07:00

Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric. - Bertrand Russell

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-55094598638713171312007-05-08T09:01:00.000-07:002007-05-08T08:02:25.339-07:00

Since I read about the International Report on Climate Change is last week -- the one that summarized our options as Mitigation, Adaptation, and Suffering -- I've been thinking about Vice President's Cheney's comment on global warming last February:You can't shut down the world economy in the name of trying to eliminate greenhouse gases.--Vice President Richard Cheney, Feb. 23, 2007Today, Forbes

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-69527292926317374122007-05-07T14:17:00.000-07:002007-05-07T15:39:40.292-07:00

I went to the new Vox Feminista show over the weekend. They did a series of skits inspired by The Omnivore's Dilemma this time out. It was by turns funny and painful, and the final skit wrapped up how I was feeling pretty well. A couple goes to their local ecologically sensitive grocery store and wanders around wondering what they can buy that is local, not part of the monoculture, and not

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-8738577863817624032007-05-07T10:27:00.000-07:002007-05-07T10:42:05.900-07:00

I grew up in a transitional urban neighborhood in Denver in the 70's. If you were to paint my life in broad strokes one that would have to be included was the time I spent across the street at our Mennonite neighbors' house. B., the father, was in training for ordination and his life in Denver involved what was essentially a re-localization project for the Hispanic main street and the

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-77496810664394004462007-05-04T15:51:00.000-07:002007-05-04T15:52:54.223-07:00

Frontline documentary on Global Warming. All 60 minutes of the documentary are available on the web for viewing.

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-52774994193915967592007-05-04T12:07:00.000-07:002007-05-04T12:16:13.037-07:00

"The single most effective way of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions would be full social-cost pricing of fossil fuel," said Dr. Rees. "The price we pay for a litre of gasoline or a cubic meter of natural gas should reflect the cost of the damage caused by the use of that material. . . . if we were to do that, we would be paying $3 to $6 a litre for gasoline."- Dr. William Rees, an environmental

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-53890361509490078992007-05-04T07:05:00.000-07:002007-05-04T07:44:13.643-07:00

I just got my utility bill for the month of April. I am starting to feel like I'm into my third month of a new exercise program... the giddiness from the newness of it all is lessening, and new giddiness from seeing progress is in short supply.Here's the bottom line:MonthKWhThermsJan583129Feb89279Mar81434Apr82635The 80-odd KWh drop from the 15 cfls I changed is still holding up, and therms are

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-83688144515649700412007-05-03T13:55:00.000-07:002007-05-03T14:18:25.819-07:00

So, according to my Google Analytics account, there are about 60 folks who visit here per day, and more than half of you visit regularly. Most of you ended up here through No Impact Man, although more and more of you come directly here or through your del.icio.us account or another bookmark keeping program.You may have noticed my "neighbors" bar... if you keep a blog on your efforts to reduce

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-79505192322885984882007-05-03T10:25:00.000-07:002007-05-03T10:27:13.307-07:00

We are more ready to try the untried when what we do is inconsequential. Hence the fact that many inventions had their birth as toys. - Eric Hoffer

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-81822674107736181572007-05-02T13:28:00.000-07:002007-05-02T14:08:59.326-07:00

The home I bought last year is not the home a real-estate agent would have picked out for me. I am reminded of this because a co-worker is buying a home and has already gone through one round of falling in love with a house just beyond his means and not being able to pull it off. What is it with agents only showing us houses that max out our borrowing capacity?I have a hunch this is why every

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-26779482937896233532007-05-02T11:41:00.000-07:002007-05-02T11:54:18.753-07:00

I mentioned an essay by Barbara Kingsolver last week and now that it's May, she seems to be busting out all over.Here's the Mother Jones essay (about tomatoes, mostly).Here's an interview with her about local eating on Powells.comHere's an interview at SalonAnd it becomes obvious that she's not just a local eating convert, she has a new book out.And as long as I'm linking to local eating writers,

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-39424222267122445702007-05-01T15:32:00.000-07:002007-05-01T15:38:10.384-07:00

I looked up from my desk in response to the first thunder of the year. Here's the view from the window.

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-77906939905346883392007-04-30T15:32:00.000-07:002007-04-30T15:56:54.930-07:00

I've started a war on plastic bottles. Basically my strategy is to re-fill every plastic bottle in my life with the same product that originally came in it. However, there are very few manufacturers, even of green products, that make this easy. Whole Foods does get the bulk bottles of Dr. Bronner's soaps and offers refilling stations in their stores, but there aren't any Burt's Bees or Natural

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-52916996986302627792007-04-30T10:56:00.000-07:002007-04-30T12:26:07.328-07:00

I have an odd space in my bedroom that I've been thinking about turning into something useful... and in searching for loft construction ideas and platform bed ideas, I ran across this article by Joseph Schwartz (note: That link is in .doc format. For a Google html cache of it, try this). It's titled:“Reduce, Reuse and Recycle": Prolegomena on Breakage and Repair in Ancient Jewish Society: Broken

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-64747203262702412232007-04-28T17:27:00.001-07:002007-04-28T17:29:04.308-07:00

No Impact Man was asking for advice about washing laundry and keeping his NYC apartment cool without using power. I commented that hanging the laundry to dry inside the apartment might act as a swamp cooler. I don't know if that will work in NYC... you need to get both a breeze and a humidity that's less than 100. But I unwittingly performed this experiment today. One of my roommates is fond of

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-15691177062503102922007-04-27T10:43:00.000-07:002007-04-27T10:51:18.726-07:00

Hmm... Nintendo is making rechargeable controllers to replace the ones that come with the Wii.Or... .... rechargeable batteries .... ...*in* .... ... the standard controller! .... Brilliant!;-)Tried this last night. It works just fine to power both the rumble pack and the built-in speaker. I had a fine time bowling and playing golf with a friend of mine for an hour

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-47834006899981537952007-04-25T11:33:00.000-07:002007-04-25T12:04:01.997-07:00

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.- (attributed to) Marcel Proust

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-50003188618678175752007-04-24T14:43:00.000-07:002007-04-24T15:00:26.925-07:00

I wanted to do an Earth day post of my top 10 tips... but I haven't tried 10 new things since starting this blog, let alone trying enough to talk about the "Top" 10. So I'm gonna summarize what I've done so far and whether it was worth it.Change to CFLs - Definitely worth it. Virtually no impact in lighting in the house (my office is cooler without the halogens on and I think my cat misses

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-10407289333362286282007-04-24T14:03:00.000-07:002007-04-24T14:22:50.345-07:00

A FastCompany paean to the CFL (Change some bulbs, change the world)And here are the Walmart CFLs (Yeah... union-busting, sub-poverty pay for full-time work, replacement of home-grown stores in towns across the US... but also solar generation on every roof! A campaign to replace 180 million incandescents with CFLs...and 12 packs of the 13w bulbs for $18.)Atmosfair Another carbon-offset program.

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-55828761576289821272007-04-24T12:34:00.000-07:002007-04-24T12:37:09.268-07:00

Yes, there are eaters who think it in their interest that food just be as cheap as possible, no matter how poor the quality. But there are many more who recognize the real cost of artificially cheap food — to their health, to the land, to the animals, to the public purse.Michael Pollan"You Are What You Grow" New York Times, April 22, 2007(Mr. Pollan is also the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma)

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-12294708369171306372007-04-23T14:42:00.000-07:002007-04-23T15:47:23.346-07:00

So, on the 14th I did go to the work day at the learning farm for Compass Montessori School in Golden. They have a lot of information about what the school and the farm are about on their website, so I don't really want to get into that. I do want to talk about why I went and what I observed.The big picture of why I went is that it makes sense to me that if we are going to address global warming,

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-50851675273764557812007-04-19T16:36:00.000-07:002007-04-19T16:38:51.876-07:00

Small rooms or dwellings discipline the mind, large ones weaken it.Leonardo DaVinci Quotes at the Small House Society

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-5612916245758642132007-04-19T15:48:00.000-07:002007-04-19T15:50:27.808-07:00

It's feeling like spring around here and I'm wanting something... greener... for the template. So I'm experimenting. Let me know what you think. I have a post and some beautiful photos from the farm I'm working on as well as a post for Earth Day about what I've learned in my first two months. Thanks for reading!

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849532188522357226.post-32988045778328934692007-04-19T09:55:00.000-07:002007-04-19T10:17:35.614-07:00

So, not only are my roommates friends, and one of those roommates is a subscriber to the Cure Farm CSA, and the community garden in my area doesn't sell out, and there are bike lanes along all the major roads in a 10 mile radius... I have a new slow food restaurant opening a stone's throw away.It's called Colterra. Read the Westword article here.

Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15325195365190586576noreply@blogger.com0