30 September 2010
The University of Minnesota has an institute called Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives which works to improve the Universities and surrounding communities access and understanding of healthy foods by funding research and increasing connections and communication. They put on a conference annually which I attended with a few friends today. The conference was a day of listening to speakers about various food topics, the general consensus being that Americans need to eat MORE PLANT FOODS.
The first speaker-Paul Coates-talked about dietary supplements. 50% of Americans use dietary supplements resulting in a $26 billion/year industry with over 50,000 products on the market. Why are people so into dietary supplements? Because we don't get enough nutrients from the diets we currently eat. Ironically, the majority of people using dietary supplements are the ones who don't really need them. They are the people who already eat generally healthy diets, are concerned about their health and exercise regularly, so these supplements really aren't successfully filling a need. While supplements can be an important part of someones diet, they should not be used to 'replace' real nutrients found in foods. The most healthy way to get the nutrients you need is to EAT them.
David J.A. Jenkins then spoke about foods for disease prevention and his 'Portfolio Diet' experiments. His argument was similar to the one the author of "Green For Life" (green smoothies) book that I mentioned earlier, that our genes have not changed significantly over evolutionary time and we should be eating diets more more similar to our close primate relatives than the Standard American Diet (SAD). Jenkins had done 3 test diets which had various levels of vegetables and greens integrated. The most extreme version was the Simian Diet in which participants needed to eat 63 servings of fruits and vegetables a day in order to maintain their body weight. This would be about 9-10 hours of eating, a total of 5.5 kg of food in and 1 kg of feces out a day (constipation is not a problem in this diet).
A lunch of acorn squash stuffed with a wild rice mixture and steamed brussel sprouts and carrots was served to us. All local! And we ended up sitting at a table of nutrition graduate students and the woman behind Spoonriver (a local foods restaurant in Minneapolis) - Brenda Langton. I asked Brenda about the local foods served at Spoonriver and she gave me the same answer that many local foods restaurants have that they serve local food when it is in season exclusively, but as the weather gets cold, they switch to a conventional diet. I can see why restaurants want to avoid freezing, drying or canning foods if not necessary (because they can get it fresh from another source) but I would be really interested and excited to see a local foods restaurant that was year-round local.
After lunch, Melissa Laska spoke about food public policy issues. She had some interesting statistics:
_$517.7 billion is spent annually in the U.S. on food at home, whereas $445.1 billion is spent on food service. This means we eat 42.4% of our food from restaurants and fast food.
_Food accounts for 11.8% of our total incomes (much less than in almost every other country of the world) Families below the poverty line, however, spend about 20% of their income on food.
_Each household spends an average of $6,000 on food/year.
There were some shocking statistics on how much of our food is imported:
On average:
79% of fish
16% of wine/beer
32% of fruit/nuts
13% of vegetables
12% of grains
11% of sweets
11% of red meat
98% of our limes come from Mexico, 51% of our garlic comes from China, 8 countries account for 80% of spices.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
DAY 46_759,493 MILES PER GALLON
Below is a chart showing a typical week of bicycle commuting (click to enlarge):
In this week (sept 12-18th) I biked 77.2 miles. It took me a total of 5:34.8 hrs
I wanted to compare how much energy would have been used if I had been driving my car everywhere instead of biking.
I used the following calculation to find how many gallons are used in each commute:
(33 mpg) (gallons used) = distance
For example on the chart, I would have used 0.53 gallons of gas on a day I commute 17.6 miles. There are 36.6 kWh in each gallon of gas, so this translates to 19.398 kWh saved on that particular day.
In total, I have 'saved' 2.325 gallons of gas and 85.095 kWh this week bicycling instead of driving.
HOWEVER, I AM using some energy to get around with my bike. It is about 500 calories worth of energy to bike 12 miles (typical distance biking). I converted my kWh per day amounts to calories to see how many calories you would need to run a car going the same distance:
1 kWh = 3,600,000 J
There are 4.18 J per calorie so,
1 kWh= 861,000 calories
In a day I commute 12 miles I use 13.176 kWh:
13.176 kWh x 861,000 calories/kWh = 11,344,536 calories that my car uses in a typical day of commuting, versus 500 on my bike. So I am using 0.000044% of the energy my car uses by biking my commute (and I have pretty good gas mileage -33 mpg). Whoa.
To make an even more ridiculous comparison, I calculated how many 'mpg' my bike gets from the energy I have to consume in calories to move myself:
1 gallon of gas = 132 MJ
4.18 J in one calorie (4.18 J x 500 calories = 2090 J)
2090 J/132,000,000 J = 0.00001583 gallons in 12 miles of biking
(mpg) (0.0000158 gallons used) = 12 miles
My bike gets 759,493.67 MPG. Yeah, thats right, try to manufacture THAT Toyota.
I wanted to compare how much energy would have been used if I had been driving my car everywhere instead of biking.
I used the following calculation to find how many gallons are used in each commute:
(33 mpg) (gallons used) = distance
For example on the chart, I would have used 0.53 gallons of gas on a day I commute 17.6 miles. There are 36.6 kWh in each gallon of gas, so this translates to 19.398 kWh saved on that particular day.
In total, I have 'saved' 2.325 gallons of gas and 85.095 kWh this week bicycling instead of driving.
HOWEVER, I AM using some energy to get around with my bike. It is about 500 calories worth of energy to bike 12 miles (typical distance biking). I converted my kWh per day amounts to calories to see how many calories you would need to run a car going the same distance:
1 kWh = 3,600,000 J
There are 4.18 J per calorie so,
1 kWh= 861,000 calories
In a day I commute 12 miles I use 13.176 kWh:
13.176 kWh x 861,000 calories/kWh = 11,344,536 calories that my car uses in a typical day of commuting, versus 500 on my bike. So I am using 0.000044% of the energy my car uses by biking my commute (and I have pretty good gas mileage -33 mpg). Whoa.
To make an even more ridiculous comparison, I calculated how many 'mpg' my bike gets from the energy I have to consume in calories to move myself:
1 gallon of gas = 132 MJ
4.18 J in one calorie (4.18 J x 500 calories = 2090 J)
2090 J/132,000,000 J = 0.00001583 gallons in 12 miles of biking
(mpg) (0.0000158 gallons used) = 12 miles
My bike gets 759,493.67 MPG. Yeah, thats right, try to manufacture THAT Toyota.
 |
| midtown greenway |
Friday, October 1, 2010
DAY 45_LEARNING TO LISTEN
28 September 2010
Germany's "grandfather of green building", Joachim Eble of Joachim Eble Architektur came to speak at the University of Minnesota today, I attended a brown-bag session with him which was a smaller group of people and allowed us to have more of a discussion than lecture. My fellow architecture folks and I sat among a wide variety of people with different interests ranging from public policy and urban design, to people simply interested in starting to learn about sustainable urbanism.
Many of the questions people were asking circled around the observation that many countries in Europe, including Germany have been able to integrate sustainable living into their urban communities in a way that is almost non-existent in the United States. Residents come together in groups of families in Germany and create a kind of co-op housing situation in which they design their entire community from the ground up in order to live in a sustainable way. Many people were asking, "how do we do that here?" and more pointedly, "how do we get people to be INTERESTED in doing that here." Which eventually led to, "how can we get our government to pass laws to MAKE people do that here." It really made me think about who it is that catalyzes change in society, a 'which comes first' scenario - is it the PEOPLE, or the GOVERNMENT who is responsible for making change. WHO HAS POWER.
Eble (who talks really slowly and quietly) responded that "Every government is a mirror of the consciousness of society." To me that means, that, like most things, it isn't black and white. Governments are made up of individuals as well, and individual change is the catalyst for any kind of change. Governments need the push from people to make changes because ultimately, government can be seen as a our collective mind. We are really responsible, in a way, for what everyone else thinks, and what we ourselves think. And in that way, we are responsible for changes which need to be made and to reach some kind of collective decisions as a society.
Personally, I don't think I have ever been that good at 'convincing' people of the importance of environmental issues. It is easy for me to get frustrated with people who I don't think 'understand' the issues. Too quickly, I jump to the conclusion that people are just ignorant, clinging to a way of life that is actually quite detrimental to themselves, as well as our environment. However, a deeper look into the issue has revealed to me that we are really all fighting for the SAME thing. We are all driven to act a certain way because a certain amount of FEAR we have of losing our WAY OF LIFE.
One one side, there are the people unwilling to accept that humans are responsible for climate change, and, in the same category are those who understand this but are still unwilling to change their lifestyles in any way regardless. Why are they unwilling to accept this? Even when climate change has been scientifically linked human behavior? They are AFRAID, and rightly so, its kinda scary. Can you really blame people though? As already outlined in this project, we are really DEPENDANT on resources (especially petroleum) to maintain our lives. We actually DON'T KNOW how to live without this resource, we would have to re-learn-as I have begun to do- how to feed ourselves, collect water, get around, etc....There are many benefits in the end, but at least the transition can be very hard. Sometimes-lets face it- I am a hungry, tired, frustrated, surly, crabby bitch (which my friends can attest to). Our natural tendency when we fear our lives (or quality of life) are in danger, is to defend it, AT ALL COSTS. As humans, we have an amazing ability to justify our actions in the face of losing something we deeply value. We will think of anything; "my husband needs to eat red meat every night to feel full, my wife won't sell her SUV because she feels unsafe on the road, I don't have time to use public transportation, I don't have time to cook myself a healthy meal" (Mark Bittmann at Healthy Food Healthy Lives 2010). Unreasonable? Maybe. But people are afraid.
On the other side, until very recently, I didn't realize that my own motivations for trying to 'convince' people, and living life the way I do is also driven by FEAR. What am I afraid of? When I really think about it, I am also afraid, to lose my quality of life. I am afraid that it will take our society and the world too long to make changes in our lives to make a difference, and we will reach a point of 'no return'. I am afraid that people will cling so tightly to their over consumptive lifestyles that everyone-no matter how we have chosen individually to live-will ultimately be affected. 'Affected' is putting it too lightly, the downward spiral we are on has the potential to cause horrific distasters of mass starvation, water shortages, political unrest, unprecedented natural disasters, the list goes on. Dramatic? Maybe. But I'm afraid.
What I have realized is that if both sides are driven by fear (which is an irrational, unreasonable and dramatic emotion), we have almost NO chance at communicating effectively or resolving anything because we have made the issues personal. When speaking to somebody from a place of fear, we are defending our survival. We have to find a way to COLLECTIVELY open our minds, understand the fears within ourselves, and actually HEAR what people are trying to say to us. Not their words, necessarily, but what they are afraid of, and how we can work together to eliminate those fears.
As Joachim Eble puts it "We have to learn to listen".
Germany's "grandfather of green building", Joachim Eble of Joachim Eble Architektur came to speak at the University of Minnesota today, I attended a brown-bag session with him which was a smaller group of people and allowed us to have more of a discussion than lecture. My fellow architecture folks and I sat among a wide variety of people with different interests ranging from public policy and urban design, to people simply interested in starting to learn about sustainable urbanism.
Many of the questions people were asking circled around the observation that many countries in Europe, including Germany have been able to integrate sustainable living into their urban communities in a way that is almost non-existent in the United States. Residents come together in groups of families in Germany and create a kind of co-op housing situation in which they design their entire community from the ground up in order to live in a sustainable way. Many people were asking, "how do we do that here?" and more pointedly, "how do we get people to be INTERESTED in doing that here." Which eventually led to, "how can we get our government to pass laws to MAKE people do that here." It really made me think about who it is that catalyzes change in society, a 'which comes first' scenario - is it the PEOPLE, or the GOVERNMENT who is responsible for making change. WHO HAS POWER.
Eble (who talks really slowly and quietly) responded that "Every government is a mirror of the consciousness of society." To me that means, that, like most things, it isn't black and white. Governments are made up of individuals as well, and individual change is the catalyst for any kind of change. Governments need the push from people to make changes because ultimately, government can be seen as a our collective mind. We are really responsible, in a way, for what everyone else thinks, and what we ourselves think. And in that way, we are responsible for changes which need to be made and to reach some kind of collective decisions as a society.
Personally, I don't think I have ever been that good at 'convincing' people of the importance of environmental issues. It is easy for me to get frustrated with people who I don't think 'understand' the issues. Too quickly, I jump to the conclusion that people are just ignorant, clinging to a way of life that is actually quite detrimental to themselves, as well as our environment. However, a deeper look into the issue has revealed to me that we are really all fighting for the SAME thing. We are all driven to act a certain way because a certain amount of FEAR we have of losing our WAY OF LIFE.
One one side, there are the people unwilling to accept that humans are responsible for climate change, and, in the same category are those who understand this but are still unwilling to change their lifestyles in any way regardless. Why are they unwilling to accept this? Even when climate change has been scientifically linked human behavior? They are AFRAID, and rightly so, its kinda scary. Can you really blame people though? As already outlined in this project, we are really DEPENDANT on resources (especially petroleum) to maintain our lives. We actually DON'T KNOW how to live without this resource, we would have to re-learn-as I have begun to do- how to feed ourselves, collect water, get around, etc....There are many benefits in the end, but at least the transition can be very hard. Sometimes-lets face it- I am a hungry, tired, frustrated, surly, crabby bitch (which my friends can attest to). Our natural tendency when we fear our lives (or quality of life) are in danger, is to defend it, AT ALL COSTS. As humans, we have an amazing ability to justify our actions in the face of losing something we deeply value. We will think of anything; "my husband needs to eat red meat every night to feel full, my wife won't sell her SUV because she feels unsafe on the road, I don't have time to use public transportation, I don't have time to cook myself a healthy meal" (Mark Bittmann at Healthy Food Healthy Lives 2010). Unreasonable? Maybe. But people are afraid.
On the other side, until very recently, I didn't realize that my own motivations for trying to 'convince' people, and living life the way I do is also driven by FEAR. What am I afraid of? When I really think about it, I am also afraid, to lose my quality of life. I am afraid that it will take our society and the world too long to make changes in our lives to make a difference, and we will reach a point of 'no return'. I am afraid that people will cling so tightly to their over consumptive lifestyles that everyone-no matter how we have chosen individually to live-will ultimately be affected. 'Affected' is putting it too lightly, the downward spiral we are on has the potential to cause horrific distasters of mass starvation, water shortages, political unrest, unprecedented natural disasters, the list goes on. Dramatic? Maybe. But I'm afraid.
What I have realized is that if both sides are driven by fear (which is an irrational, unreasonable and dramatic emotion), we have almost NO chance at communicating effectively or resolving anything because we have made the issues personal. When speaking to somebody from a place of fear, we are defending our survival. We have to find a way to COLLECTIVELY open our minds, understand the fears within ourselves, and actually HEAR what people are trying to say to us. Not their words, necessarily, but what they are afraid of, and how we can work together to eliminate those fears.
As Joachim Eble puts it "We have to learn to listen".
DAY 44_SMALL UPDATES (gnats, wrong greens, homemade mascara)
27 September 2010
Small updates lately:
GNATS:
_Gnats are getting better, hanging sticky tape up near the plants they were living in the bathroom has worked the best. I also made some gnat traps out of empty beer bottles. By making a funnel of aluminum foil with a VERY small hole, the gnats fly in and can't get out. I put some apple cider vinegar in the bottle because the gnats are attracted to the fermenting smell. These traps haven't trapped as many as the sticky tape, but have gotten at least a few of them.
COMPOST:
_Replacing the compost with my white sheet has eliminated the worm's escaping problem. I'm thinking up ways to keep a translucent lid on the worm bin which will be easier than replacing the sheet/bungee cord every time...ideas?
GREENS:
_I learned the hard way to pay attention to what vegetables I am buying at the co-op yesterday... Its important to rotate the greens/vegetables you are consuming because it is easier to get a wide variety of nutrients, so I have been trying to buy new greens almost every time I go. I picked up a bunch of big, dark leafy greens which were local and organic without even looking at what kind they were. Took them to the checkout and the lady was like, "uh, what ARE these?" , and I was like "oh, I have no idea, I just picked them up, ha. So we spent about 5 minutes looking over her thumbnail sized, laminated sheets of vegetable identification pictures trying to find them. The verdict-Rapini.
I threw half of the Rapini, one apple, a few frozen pear bits, 1 1/2 cups of water and some honey in a blender this morning (typical green smoothie I drink every morning with various greens), and when I went to taste it, OH WOW, SUPER bitter. It was undrinkable. So rapini really needs to be balanced with pretty sweet fruits (which aren't really available to me anymore). HOWEVER, I found a recipe for a better way to eat the rest of the greens here (http://liveitupvegan.blogspot.com/2006/08/pennine-rapini-and-garlicky-bchamel.html). It is a Penne, Rapini and Garlicky Bechamel.
Cook the Penne, adding the chopped Rapini in during the last 3 minutes (don't overcook or it gets mushy) and make sauce while cooking:
"Make your Garlicky Béchamel by putting 1/4 cup vegetable oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add 1/4 cup of flour (I use unbleached white flour or whole wheat flour or rice flour, etc) and mix well for one or two minutes. Don’t let it burn. Then, slowly add 2 cups of soymilk, stirring constantly with a whisk to prevent lumps, until the desired consistency. You can add more soymilk if you find the sauce too thick. Then add the garlic, the seasonings and let simmer on low heat."
Gonna try making this tonight with the local, bulk penne I found!
OIL-FREE MASCARA
_An article in my friend's ReadyMade the other day introduced me to two ladies; Siobhan O' Connor and Alexandra Sprut who have a blog called 'No More Dirty Looks', and book (by the same name). (http://nomoredirtylooks.com/). While they are not addressing products made from petroleum directly, they outline what ingredients in cosmetics and other health/hygiene products contain chemicals and toxins which are harmful (many of which are petroleum based). I'm in the process of trying to identify what ingredients come directly from petroleum, but, to be on the safe side am converting all my products to oil-free versions (recipes from their book, blog) as I run out of them. Today I made mascara from charcoal tablets and aloe vera. Charcoal tablets were $9 and aloe can come from a bottle or squeezed from an aloe plant (if you have one).
1_Twist charcoal capsule apart and dump contents into a small vile/tube. Many health-food stores and co-ops have a health/hygiene department which sell small jars for making your own products. I found a small skinny jar made for fragrances. Dumb the charcoal directly in the jar.
2_Scoop aloe vera gel into the jar until full (about .5 ounces) The charcoal tablets could go a lot further because there is a lot of powder in each one, but I wanted to make small quantities so I could make it more often and it will be fresher.
3_Stir up jar with a thin object (I used a little stick)
4_Clean an old mascara brush, dip in, scrap extra off on edges of tube and apply!
My friend Amber used a much cooler version of mine using wood charcoal off her grill to make an eyeliner! In her own words, "I squished some gel out of an aloe leaf, swabbed by brush it it and then picked up some charcoal dust (just picking up a piece from the bag created enough fine dust on my fingers to work with) and lined my lovely lids. it worked like a charm. i think the aloe/charcoal is technically the mascara rather than the eyeliner, but it worked! hooray". I've been using this for a few days, it stays on really well, doesn't run much (I should know-biking in the rain and all), but removals easily when you don't want it to come off.
No worries about getting this stuff in your eyes, while you certainly don't want to rub it in your eyes it is much safer than ingredients that in most mascaras. All ingredients can literally be eaten and be ok, in fact, the charcoal tablets are meant to be eaten to help with gas and digestion issues. (pics when I get a chance, check back)
Small updates lately:
GNATS:
_Gnats are getting better, hanging sticky tape up near the plants they were living in the bathroom has worked the best. I also made some gnat traps out of empty beer bottles. By making a funnel of aluminum foil with a VERY small hole, the gnats fly in and can't get out. I put some apple cider vinegar in the bottle because the gnats are attracted to the fermenting smell. These traps haven't trapped as many as the sticky tape, but have gotten at least a few of them.
COMPOST:
_Replacing the compost with my white sheet has eliminated the worm's escaping problem. I'm thinking up ways to keep a translucent lid on the worm bin which will be easier than replacing the sheet/bungee cord every time...ideas?
GREENS:
_I learned the hard way to pay attention to what vegetables I am buying at the co-op yesterday... Its important to rotate the greens/vegetables you are consuming because it is easier to get a wide variety of nutrients, so I have been trying to buy new greens almost every time I go. I picked up a bunch of big, dark leafy greens which were local and organic without even looking at what kind they were. Took them to the checkout and the lady was like, "uh, what ARE these?" , and I was like "oh, I have no idea, I just picked them up, ha. So we spent about 5 minutes looking over her thumbnail sized, laminated sheets of vegetable identification pictures trying to find them. The verdict-Rapini.
I threw half of the Rapini, one apple, a few frozen pear bits, 1 1/2 cups of water and some honey in a blender this morning (typical green smoothie I drink every morning with various greens), and when I went to taste it, OH WOW, SUPER bitter. It was undrinkable. So rapini really needs to be balanced with pretty sweet fruits (which aren't really available to me anymore). HOWEVER, I found a recipe for a better way to eat the rest of the greens here (http://liveitupvegan.blogspot.com/2006/08/pennine-rapini-and-garlicky-bchamel.html). It is a Penne, Rapini and Garlicky Bechamel.
Cook the Penne, adding the chopped Rapini in during the last 3 minutes (don't overcook or it gets mushy) and make sauce while cooking:
"Make your Garlicky Béchamel by putting 1/4 cup vegetable oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add 1/4 cup of flour (I use unbleached white flour or whole wheat flour or rice flour, etc) and mix well for one or two minutes. Don’t let it burn. Then, slowly add 2 cups of soymilk, stirring constantly with a whisk to prevent lumps, until the desired consistency. You can add more soymilk if you find the sauce too thick. Then add the garlic, the seasonings and let simmer on low heat."
Gonna try making this tonight with the local, bulk penne I found!
OIL-FREE MASCARA
_An article in my friend's ReadyMade the other day introduced me to two ladies; Siobhan O' Connor and Alexandra Sprut who have a blog called 'No More Dirty Looks', and book (by the same name). (http://nomoredirtylooks.com/). While they are not addressing products made from petroleum directly, they outline what ingredients in cosmetics and other health/hygiene products contain chemicals and toxins which are harmful (many of which are petroleum based). I'm in the process of trying to identify what ingredients come directly from petroleum, but, to be on the safe side am converting all my products to oil-free versions (recipes from their book, blog) as I run out of them. Today I made mascara from charcoal tablets and aloe vera. Charcoal tablets were $9 and aloe can come from a bottle or squeezed from an aloe plant (if you have one).
1_Twist charcoal capsule apart and dump contents into a small vile/tube. Many health-food stores and co-ops have a health/hygiene department which sell small jars for making your own products. I found a small skinny jar made for fragrances. Dumb the charcoal directly in the jar.
2_Scoop aloe vera gel into the jar until full (about .5 ounces) The charcoal tablets could go a lot further because there is a lot of powder in each one, but I wanted to make small quantities so I could make it more often and it will be fresher.
3_Stir up jar with a thin object (I used a little stick)
4_Clean an old mascara brush, dip in, scrap extra off on edges of tube and apply!
My friend Amber used a much cooler version of mine using wood charcoal off her grill to make an eyeliner! In her own words, "I squished some gel out of an aloe leaf, swabbed by brush it it and then picked up some charcoal dust (just picking up a piece from the bag created enough fine dust on my fingers to work with) and lined my lovely lids. it worked like a charm. i think the aloe/charcoal is technically the mascara rather than the eyeliner, but it worked! hooray". I've been using this for a few days, it stays on really well, doesn't run much (I should know-biking in the rain and all), but removals easily when you don't want it to come off.
No worries about getting this stuff in your eyes, while you certainly don't want to rub it in your eyes it is much safer than ingredients that in most mascaras. All ingredients can literally be eaten and be ok, in fact, the charcoal tablets are meant to be eaten to help with gas and digestion issues. (pics when I get a chance, check back)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
DAY 43_MPG vs GPM (GARBAGE TRUCK ENERGY)
26 September 2010
How much energy is used to take out the trash?
I decided not to create any waste for this project mostly to see if it was possible, but have recently been looking into just how much energy it takes for a garbage truck to haul your trash away once a week. A little background on Minneapolis (Hennepin County's) waste system from the city website(http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/solid-waste/garbage.asp):
"None of your garbage goes into a landfill. City of Minneapolis garbage goes to the Hennepin Energy Resource Co. (HERC).
Located in downtown Minneapolis, the HERC facility uses mass burn technology to convert 365,000 tons of garbage a year into electricity that is sold to Xcel Energy, Inc."
This waste-to-energy facility is located in downtown Minneapolis, just 2.1 miles from my house. While it may seem strange that Minneapolis burns all its waste near the most densely populated area of the city, this is a convenient location for the facility because it can more efficiently distribute the steam (heat energy) which is being created by HERC. While the facility is extremely close to where I live, the main problem lies in how garbage gets there -garbage trucks. As this article outlines (http://www.informinc.org/pr_ggt.php), garbage trucks have some serious fuel efficiency issues:
"The study found that garbage trucks are among the oldest, least fuel-efficient, and most polluting fleet vehicles in the United States:
"MPG tricks people's perceptions. Replacing a car that gets 14 MPG with a car that gets 17 MPG saves as much gas for a given distance as replacing a car that gets 33 MPG with a car that gets 50 MPG (about 1 gallon per hundred miles--see this table). MPG obscures the value of removing the most inefficient cars. As the GPM table shows, a 14 to 20 MPG improvement saves twice as much gas as a 33 to 50 MPG improvement:"
MPG = miles per gallon
GPHM = gallons per hundred miles
More information on this at http://www.mpgillusion.com/"
A few conversions from wikipedia:
1 barrel of crude oil (42 gallons) makes 19.5 gallons of gasoline (other products are made from the barrel as well)
1 gallon of gasoline = 132 MJ = 36.6 kWh
Garbage trucks = 2.8 MPG = GPM
2.8 GPM x 2.1 (miles from my house to the HERC) = 5.88 gallons of gas
Multiplying 5.88 gallons of gas x 36.6 (kWh in a gallon of gasoline) I found that 215.2 kWh of energy are used in the garbage truck's 2.1 mile trip from my house to the waste facility. Whoala. A few comparisons, our house uses about 140 kWh of energy a month (that's 3 people). Check your energy bill, this is probably pretty close to the amount of energy most small homes use in a whole month! Granted, the truck makes many stops, so it isn't just MY garbage that is being picked up on the truck. For example, if the truck was on a 10 mile round-trip route which served 50 houses, the energy use per house would be 20.49 kWh (((2.8 MPG x10 miles)/50 houses) x 36.6 kWh)). I have had trouble finding data about garbage routes and number of homes served by each truck. Updates on these numbers as I find more data...
But just for a moment I would like to consider how much energy would have to be dedicated for garbage hauling each day if I were to be using this service. 215.2 kWh divided by 7 days (garbage picked up once a week) = 30.7 kWh per day. My energy budget is 5kWh/day. (Again this number comes from my 'share' of the average solar energy that lands on my roof each day). This means that if I were to consider having garbage trucks haul my garbage away, and dedicated my ENTIRE energy budget towards it, I would only have enough energy to have garbage hauled every 43 days (215.2 kWh per load/5 kWh energy budget per day). While there is no way I could dedicate my entire energy budget to garbage hauling, picking up garbage once a month doesn't actually seem that unreasonable. As mentioned in earlier posts, while it is almost impossible to not accumulate ANY waste, it is certainly possible to minimize waste dramatically. There are only a few items that I continually collect (milk lids, glass wine bottles, twisty ties). Most of these things are actually recyclable (but I'm not recycling in this project due to energy requirements as well). I won't have any problem collecting waste in the 14 gallon (2.5'x2'x2') plastic tub I am using now over the 100 days. This means that I would really only need garbage to be picked up every 3 months or so.
Below is a graphic describing the garbage energy use and flows (click to enlarge in a new window):
How much energy is used to take out the trash?
I decided not to create any waste for this project mostly to see if it was possible, but have recently been looking into just how much energy it takes for a garbage truck to haul your trash away once a week. A little background on Minneapolis (Hennepin County's) waste system from the city website(http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/solid-waste/garbage.asp):
"None of your garbage goes into a landfill. City of Minneapolis garbage goes to the Hennepin Energy Resource Co. (HERC).
Located in downtown Minneapolis, the HERC facility uses mass burn technology to convert 365,000 tons of garbage a year into electricity that is sold to Xcel Energy, Inc."
This waste-to-energy facility is located in downtown Minneapolis, just 2.1 miles from my house. While it may seem strange that Minneapolis burns all its waste near the most densely populated area of the city, this is a convenient location for the facility because it can more efficiently distribute the steam (heat energy) which is being created by HERC. While the facility is extremely close to where I live, the main problem lies in how garbage gets there -garbage trucks. As this article outlines (http://www.informinc.org/pr_ggt.php), garbage trucks have some serious fuel efficiency issues:
"The study found that garbage trucks are among the oldest, least fuel-efficient, and most polluting fleet vehicles in the United States:
- There are more than twice as many garbage trucks in the US (179,000) as there are urban transit buses (82,600). The garbage truck fleet includes refuse and recycling collection vehicles as well as transfer trucks.
- Forty-one percent of garbage trucks in use are more than 10 years old, nearing the end of their lifetime (12 to14 years), and performing at reduced efficiencies.
- Garbage trucks use more fuel than any other type of vehicle – averaging 8,600 gallons per year – except for tractor-trailers and transit buses (which use 11,500 gallons and 10,800 gallons on average per year, respectively).
- Garbage trucks in the US consume approximately 1 billion gallons of diesel fuel annually and get the lowest fuel efficiency (2.8 miles per gallon) of any vehicle type. Transit buses, single-unit heavy-duty trucks, and tractor-trailers get 2.9, 7.0, and 6.1 miles per gallon, respectively.
- Diesel garbage trucks are a major source of air pollution, including smog-forming compounds, particulate matter, and toxic chemical constituents. While heavy-duty diesel-powered vehicles, including garbage trucks, make up only 7 percent of vehicles on the road, they contribute 69 percent of on-road fine particulate pollution and 40 percent of nitrogen oxide emissions.
- Diesel garbage trucks are notoriously loud, generating noise levels of up to 100 decibels, which can cause serious hearing damage. Garbage truck operators, as well as those living along garbage truck routes, are affected by this noise.
"MPG tricks people's perceptions. Replacing a car that gets 14 MPG with a car that gets 17 MPG saves as much gas for a given distance as replacing a car that gets 33 MPG with a car that gets 50 MPG (about 1 gallon per hundred miles--see this table). MPG obscures the value of removing the most inefficient cars. As the GPM table shows, a 14 to 20 MPG improvement saves twice as much gas as a 33 to 50 MPG improvement:"
MPG = miles per gallon
GPHM = gallons per hundred miles
| MPG | GPHM |
|---|---|
| 10 | 10 |
| 11 | 9 |
| 12.5 | 8 |
| 14 | 7 |
| 16.5 | 6 |
| 20 | 5 |
| 25 | 4 |
| 33 | 3 |
| 50 | 2 |
| 100 | 1 |
More information on this at http://www.mpgillusion.com/"
A few conversions from wikipedia:
1 barrel of crude oil (42 gallons) makes 19.5 gallons of gasoline (other products are made from the barrel as well)
1 gallon of gasoline = 132 MJ = 36.6 kWh
Garbage trucks = 2.8 MPG = GPM
2.8 GPM x 2.1 (miles from my house to the HERC) = 5.88 gallons of gas
Multiplying 5.88 gallons of gas x 36.6 (kWh in a gallon of gasoline) I found that 215.2 kWh of energy are used in the garbage truck's 2.1 mile trip from my house to the waste facility. Whoala. A few comparisons, our house uses about 140 kWh of energy a month (that's 3 people). Check your energy bill, this is probably pretty close to the amount of energy most small homes use in a whole month! Granted, the truck makes many stops, so it isn't just MY garbage that is being picked up on the truck. For example, if the truck was on a 10 mile round-trip route which served 50 houses, the energy use per house would be 20.49 kWh (((2.8 MPG x10 miles)/50 houses) x 36.6 kWh)). I have had trouble finding data about garbage routes and number of homes served by each truck. Updates on these numbers as I find more data...
But just for a moment I would like to consider how much energy would have to be dedicated for garbage hauling each day if I were to be using this service. 215.2 kWh divided by 7 days (garbage picked up once a week) = 30.7 kWh per day. My energy budget is 5kWh/day. (Again this number comes from my 'share' of the average solar energy that lands on my roof each day). This means that if I were to consider having garbage trucks haul my garbage away, and dedicated my ENTIRE energy budget towards it, I would only have enough energy to have garbage hauled every 43 days (215.2 kWh per load/5 kWh energy budget per day). While there is no way I could dedicate my entire energy budget to garbage hauling, picking up garbage once a month doesn't actually seem that unreasonable. As mentioned in earlier posts, while it is almost impossible to not accumulate ANY waste, it is certainly possible to minimize waste dramatically. There are only a few items that I continually collect (milk lids, glass wine bottles, twisty ties). Most of these things are actually recyclable (but I'm not recycling in this project due to energy requirements as well). I won't have any problem collecting waste in the 14 gallon (2.5'x2'x2') plastic tub I am using now over the 100 days. This means that I would really only need garbage to be picked up every 3 months or so.
Below is a graphic describing the garbage energy use and flows (click to enlarge in a new window):
 |
| waste energy flows (click to enlarge) |
Monday, September 27, 2010
DAY 42_CONTAINER GARDENING
25 September 2010
I finally feel like some of the stuff I planted might actually grow into food I can eat :) I now have had greens growing for 3 weeks, planting a new bed each week. Here are three bins of greens I have growing:
Collards (3 weeks old today):
.JPG)
Collards (2 weeks old today):
.JPG)
Arugula (1 week old today):
.JPG)
I also have some nice cilantro growing. I have rosemary, basil and lemon balm also growing, but they are much smaller still.
.JPG)
I've been reading some books on container gardening. This has become a popular method of gardening lately as more people are trying to find ways to grow foods in small and indoor spaces. A 2007 United Nations report concluded that over half of the world's population now lives in cities instead of rural areas. This trend is likely to continue, and as it does, there will be more and more need to find ways to grow some of our own food in urban environments (our homes). As petroleum decreases, and non-local foods become increasingly expensive, there will be more economic incentive to growing certain plants indoors to mimic their natural environments. There are also health benefits to having growing plants around you. E. O. Wilson most famously describes this phenomenon as the Biophilia Effect, "the connections that human beings subconsciously seek with the rest of life.” Basically, because we are natural beings ourselves, we have a deep-rooted affiliation with all that is natural. Studies done in hospitals where a group of patients faced a brick wall while others had a view of nature, found that the patients who had a view of natural had faster recoveries. By surrounding ourselves with plants, we can benefit from this phenomenon as well.
One advantage of growing plants indoors is that the space is already conditioned for our inhabitance. Unlike a greenhouse, the space for growing doesn't require any extra energy for heating and cooling. Unlike a garden, the indoor container garden can grow food all year round, regardless of season. By having enough light, feeding and watering plants appropriately, the indoor environment can fool mother nature into thinking it is in its ideal climate all the time. D.J.Herda's book, From Container to Kitchen outlines how to begin container gardening. A few tips from Herda's book:
_Most plants need at least 6" of depth. A good rule of thumb from Herda is that the foliage of the plant should not exceed this ratio (2/3 plant to 1/3 pot depth). Pots can be found anywhere, old ice cream containers, coffee tins, mason jars, cut-in-half milk cartons.
_Overwatering is the leading killer of indoor plants. Because water in containers has no where to go it settles at the bottom of the container unless properly drained. The bottom roots of the plant are where all nutrients are soaked up into the rest of the plant, and if this part of the plant is constantly too wet, it will being to rot and cause the plant to weaken, get disease, and possibly die. A good rule of thumb: if the plants leaves are turning brown and crispy it is underwatered, if the leaves are turning yellow it is overwatered. Many plants like to have the soil dry out completely between waterings. This means when plants are watered, they should be watered until water starts coming out of the bottom holes to ensure that water got to the very bottom.
_Having enough lighting is also extremely important, and the most difficult thing to achieve indoors. Indoor light levels are really crappy. Even a space we think is quite brightly lit, is actually fairly dim compared to the outdoors. From the book:
INDOOR SPACES;
reading/writing - 20 footcandles
ironing/sewing - 40 footcandles
circulation areas - 10 footcandles
display areas - 100-200 footcandles
conference room - 30 footcandles
OUTDOOR SPACES:
cloudy winter day - 2,000 footcandles
sunny summer day - 10,000 footcandles
So you can see that typical indoor lighting isn't nearly sufficient for plant growth. Light has to be introduced in some way. I have a high-efficiency fluorescent grow light with 4 tubes and that has worked so far for what I am growing. Fluorescent lights are an inexpensive way to add a lot more light to the space. Reflectors are another way to utilize the existing light more efficiently. By using mirrors, reflective metal surfaces (panel covered in aluminum foil) or white surfaces, more light can be reflected back onto the plants. According to tests conducted at the Rodale Experimental Farm in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, white is a better reflector than metal surfaces.
_Proper drainage is another important aspect. As I mentioned above, it is bad for plants to be sitting in water (even a little bit at the bottom). To avoid this, fill drainage trays with rocks and set plants on top so the water can drain, but the plant doesn't have to sit in the overflowing (standing) water.
All in all, in a post-cheap oil house, it would be ideal to have a dedicated space for growing food. This space would ideally be a greenhouse space attached to the house so no additional light would have to be introduced. It could be enclosed by reflective walls (mirrors or white) and have zones for various temperatures/humidity. This way, plants which are typically grown in tropical regions could grow in one part of the space, while other plants needing less sun/heat could be grown in another part of the space. Ample room for storage would be required. The table could be a large tray covered in stones which would serve as a giant drainage space (or possibly just drain onto the floor). This space could be heated passively by having glass angled perpendicularly to the noon-sun angle (at the coldest time of year). The space would be a pleasant place in be on a cold, winter day in MN :) and excess heat could be introduced into the living space as needed.
I finally feel like some of the stuff I planted might actually grow into food I can eat :) I now have had greens growing for 3 weeks, planting a new bed each week. Here are three bins of greens I have growing:
Collards (3 weeks old today):
.JPG)
Collards (2 weeks old today):
.JPG)
Arugula (1 week old today):
.JPG)
I also have some nice cilantro growing. I have rosemary, basil and lemon balm also growing, but they are much smaller still.
.JPG)
I've been reading some books on container gardening. This has become a popular method of gardening lately as more people are trying to find ways to grow foods in small and indoor spaces. A 2007 United Nations report concluded that over half of the world's population now lives in cities instead of rural areas. This trend is likely to continue, and as it does, there will be more and more need to find ways to grow some of our own food in urban environments (our homes). As petroleum decreases, and non-local foods become increasingly expensive, there will be more economic incentive to growing certain plants indoors to mimic their natural environments. There are also health benefits to having growing plants around you. E. O. Wilson most famously describes this phenomenon as the Biophilia Effect, "the connections that human beings subconsciously seek with the rest of life.” Basically, because we are natural beings ourselves, we have a deep-rooted affiliation with all that is natural. Studies done in hospitals where a group of patients faced a brick wall while others had a view of nature, found that the patients who had a view of natural had faster recoveries. By surrounding ourselves with plants, we can benefit from this phenomenon as well.
One advantage of growing plants indoors is that the space is already conditioned for our inhabitance. Unlike a greenhouse, the space for growing doesn't require any extra energy for heating and cooling. Unlike a garden, the indoor container garden can grow food all year round, regardless of season. By having enough light, feeding and watering plants appropriately, the indoor environment can fool mother nature into thinking it is in its ideal climate all the time. D.J.Herda's book, From Container to Kitchen outlines how to begin container gardening. A few tips from Herda's book:
_Most plants need at least 6" of depth. A good rule of thumb from Herda is that the foliage of the plant should not exceed this ratio (2/3 plant to 1/3 pot depth). Pots can be found anywhere, old ice cream containers, coffee tins, mason jars, cut-in-half milk cartons.
_Overwatering is the leading killer of indoor plants. Because water in containers has no where to go it settles at the bottom of the container unless properly drained. The bottom roots of the plant are where all nutrients are soaked up into the rest of the plant, and if this part of the plant is constantly too wet, it will being to rot and cause the plant to weaken, get disease, and possibly die. A good rule of thumb: if the plants leaves are turning brown and crispy it is underwatered, if the leaves are turning yellow it is overwatered. Many plants like to have the soil dry out completely between waterings. This means when plants are watered, they should be watered until water starts coming out of the bottom holes to ensure that water got to the very bottom.
_Having enough lighting is also extremely important, and the most difficult thing to achieve indoors. Indoor light levels are really crappy. Even a space we think is quite brightly lit, is actually fairly dim compared to the outdoors. From the book:
INDOOR SPACES;
reading/writing - 20 footcandles
ironing/sewing - 40 footcandles
circulation areas - 10 footcandles
display areas - 100-200 footcandles
conference room - 30 footcandles
OUTDOOR SPACES:
cloudy winter day - 2,000 footcandles
sunny summer day - 10,000 footcandles
So you can see that typical indoor lighting isn't nearly sufficient for plant growth. Light has to be introduced in some way. I have a high-efficiency fluorescent grow light with 4 tubes and that has worked so far for what I am growing. Fluorescent lights are an inexpensive way to add a lot more light to the space. Reflectors are another way to utilize the existing light more efficiently. By using mirrors, reflective metal surfaces (panel covered in aluminum foil) or white surfaces, more light can be reflected back onto the plants. According to tests conducted at the Rodale Experimental Farm in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, white is a better reflector than metal surfaces.
_Proper drainage is another important aspect. As I mentioned above, it is bad for plants to be sitting in water (even a little bit at the bottom). To avoid this, fill drainage trays with rocks and set plants on top so the water can drain, but the plant doesn't have to sit in the overflowing (standing) water.
All in all, in a post-cheap oil house, it would be ideal to have a dedicated space for growing food. This space would ideally be a greenhouse space attached to the house so no additional light would have to be introduced. It could be enclosed by reflective walls (mirrors or white) and have zones for various temperatures/humidity. This way, plants which are typically grown in tropical regions could grow in one part of the space, while other plants needing less sun/heat could be grown in another part of the space. Ample room for storage would be required. The table could be a large tray covered in stones which would serve as a giant drainage space (or possibly just drain onto the floor). This space could be heated passively by having glass angled perpendicularly to the noon-sun angle (at the coldest time of year). The space would be a pleasant place in be on a cold, winter day in MN :) and excess heat could be introduced into the living space as needed.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
DAY 41_GNATS
24 September 2010
Gnats have infested our house. They don't seem to be coming out of the worm bin when I open it, but they were definitely attracted to the kitchen compost tin we had sitting on our counter. While the kitchen composter had carbon filters to prevent odors, it isn't air-tight, so the fruit flies (which apparently have a great sense of smell) could smell it and get in. While we stopped using the kitchen composter and are throwing food scraps directly into the bin now, the fruit flies have made homes in the houseplants and want to stay. This article explains that there are two kinds of gnats that are typically problems with houseplants and worm-bins.(http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/reduce/flies.htm) This article: (http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/fungus-gnats-in-worm-compost-bins/) is also a good resource.
Fruit Flies are a little larger, have reddish brown bodies and can often be seen hovering around bowls of fruit or juice. The gross part is that fruit flies often become a problem because they the larvae are actually inside some of the fruit that you bring home (cannot be seen by the human eye). They are especially attracted to bananas because of their strong smell. If fruit that contains larvae gets thrown in the worm bin, it now has the perfect little habitat to thrive.
The other kind of gnats (I think we have both at our house) are Fungus gnats. These insects are attracted to houseplant soil and burrow in. You can often see them around plants or on the underside of leaves. These can be a particularly dangerous problem to seedlings as they eat the delicate roots of young plants and case disease or die. The houseplant in our bathroom has a lot of gnats at this point.
War on gnats. Here is the plan:
Step 1: place sticky traps around areas where gnats are found I have hung one in the bathroom next to the plant, but it doesn't seem to be doing much.)
Step 2: make gnat traps. By placing apple-cider vinegar in a small bowl (they are attracted to the fermenting smell) and making a funnel with a small hole at the end, the gnats crawl inside the trap and it is virtually impossible for them to get out. They drown in the cider.
Step 3: allow plants to draw out between watering, the fungus gnats
Step 4: while fungus gnats burrow into compost and can be eliminated by opening the bin to the light for a day, the fruit gnats are attracted to the smell of the compost, so opening it would likely solve one problem and create another. By keeping a layer of soil on top of the compost, the smell won't be attractive to the gnats. I dig a hole in the bin to put food into and bury it. Also, by over-feeding the worms gnats are attracted to the smell of food that is rotting (because the worms can't keep up).
Gnats have infested our house. They don't seem to be coming out of the worm bin when I open it, but they were definitely attracted to the kitchen compost tin we had sitting on our counter. While the kitchen composter had carbon filters to prevent odors, it isn't air-tight, so the fruit flies (which apparently have a great sense of smell) could smell it and get in. While we stopped using the kitchen composter and are throwing food scraps directly into the bin now, the fruit flies have made homes in the houseplants and want to stay. This article explains that there are two kinds of gnats that are typically problems with houseplants and worm-bins.(http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/reduce/flies.htm) This article: (http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/fungus-gnats-in-worm-compost-bins/) is also a good resource.
Fruit Flies are a little larger, have reddish brown bodies and can often be seen hovering around bowls of fruit or juice. The gross part is that fruit flies often become a problem because they the larvae are actually inside some of the fruit that you bring home (cannot be seen by the human eye). They are especially attracted to bananas because of their strong smell. If fruit that contains larvae gets thrown in the worm bin, it now has the perfect little habitat to thrive.
The other kind of gnats (I think we have both at our house) are Fungus gnats. These insects are attracted to houseplant soil and burrow in. You can often see them around plants or on the underside of leaves. These can be a particularly dangerous problem to seedlings as they eat the delicate roots of young plants and case disease or die. The houseplant in our bathroom has a lot of gnats at this point.
War on gnats. Here is the plan:
Step 1: place sticky traps around areas where gnats are found I have hung one in the bathroom next to the plant, but it doesn't seem to be doing much.)
Step 2: make gnat traps. By placing apple-cider vinegar in a small bowl (they are attracted to the fermenting smell) and making a funnel with a small hole at the end, the gnats crawl inside the trap and it is virtually impossible for them to get out. They drown in the cider.
Step 3: allow plants to draw out between watering, the fungus gnats
Step 4: while fungus gnats burrow into compost and can be eliminated by opening the bin to the light for a day, the fruit gnats are attracted to the smell of the compost, so opening it would likely solve one problem and create another. By keeping a layer of soil on top of the compost, the smell won't be attractive to the gnats. I dig a hole in the bin to put food into and bury it. Also, by over-feeding the worms gnats are attracted to the smell of food that is rotting (because the worms can't keep up).
.JPG) |
| gnats on bathroom mirror |
.JPG) |
| sticky tape |
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