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Project Discussions:  "Green" Power  |
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ceejay48
True Blue Farmgirl
541 Posts
CJ
Dolores
Colorado
USA
541 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 11 2010 : 7:38:43 PM
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Wanted to share some thoughts on the "green" energy/power subject.
As you all know this topic is one of the most discussed these days.
How can we do it cleaner, safer, less expensive, etc., etc. Working for this Merit Badge has been very thought provoking.
We all know that fossil fuels have been around a long time and are not renewable. Coal is warm but it is DIRTY and creates a lot of pollution in the air.
Our power is generated through a "Touchstone Energy Cooperative" company and is partially hydroelectric generated and partially coal.
If we could effectively harness the wind around here we could generate a tremendous amount of energy. Solar energy is a good option in our area because we have a lot of sunny days. There are many folks in the southwest who are installing solar panels and changing over for a lot of purposes such as hot water heat and room heat.
Our home is 100% electric and we strive to reduce our consumption of energy every way possible and have managed to lower our electric bill some by doing so. We have changed out our light bulbs for the energy saver type and our power company will recycle the other ones for us.
We could challenge ourselves to make concerted efforts to:
-change out all our light bulbs
-turn off all peripherals for computers and other electronics when
not in use.
-make efforts as possible to change to the more energy efficient rated appliances, water heaters, etc.
-any other strategies that we can come up with to make changes that are cleaner, safer, more efficient and renewable or sustainable.
Here's to "green power" efforts!
CJ
...from the barefoot farmgirl in SW Colorado |
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KathleenL
True Blue Farmgirl
201 Posts
Kathleen
Littleton
Colorado
USA
201 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2010 : 12:55:21 PM
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The power plant that services us burns coal. A couple of years ago Colorado voters voted to spend extra per usage and use that extra towards greener alternatives, namely wind. Our power company is owned by the stockholders (basically the customers) and sent out a letter saying that the law did not apply to them and gave this lengthy argument why coal was better than wind emphasizing how much more it would cost the consumer to switch to wind power. There was a ballot included with this letter for the stockholders to vote whether the company should be required to pursue wind power. Of course, after the letter that was created to scare consumers with the emphasis on how much electric bills would go up the wind initiative was voted down. I was greatly disappointed. Where we live there is TONS of wind and sun. I wish we had the money to go solar. But we would also have to deal with covenants that greatly limit the addition of solar panels. My real desire is to move somewhere that we don't have to deal with covenants and build a place that is largely self-sufficient if not totally off-grid.
About the light bulbs; I hate flourescents. I don't like the hum of the big ones and the color on the others seems really off. Even though the packages claim they last longer it seems like I have to change them quite often. Have you found a brand you like?
Some ways we've switched to "greener" here: changing to earth friendly cleaning products, reusing items for other uses as much as possible, cutting down on junk mail by getting on the national list and contacting places that keep sending me catalogs and credit card offers (http://www.directmail.com/directory/mail_preference/), consolidating errands into one trip, recycling every possible item (this often has me going through the trash and taking out things because a certain family member doesn't seem to take this very seriously), and composting our leftovers. Those are the things that come to mind right now.
Living "green" has been important to me since long before it became the in thing to do. I've been using my own bags for shopping for over 20 years and recycling for longer than I can remember. We used to have to save up the recyclables and take them to a center but now we have curbside pickup. Perhaps if everyone had taken this issue more seriously before now we wouldn't be in such a mess. But of course, there are still people who don't get that this is a problem.
So, I'm with you on this, CJ.
Kathy |
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Montrose Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
188 Posts
Laurie
Montrose
CO
188 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2010 : 3:05:39 PM
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Kathy, You could argue with any covenants. By law, They aren't allowed to limit solar panels. You might have to look into this more if your HOA is giving you other information.
Laurie
Best Growing |
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Rusty
True Blue Farmgirl
83 Posts
Rusty
Las Cruces
NM
USA
83 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2010 : 11:21:02 AM
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Kathy:
Just got around to reading the bag swap replies. I will gladly share the directions for the plastic bag directions. Here goes:
Collect about 100 plastic shopping bags. Cut off the tops and the very bottom of each bag. I use a rotary cutter for this so I can cut about 3 bags at one time.
Then lay them flat and cut across the bags every 1 1/2 inches. You end up with round strips 1 1/2" wide. Then just loop one end through another and start winding into a ball.
Using an "M" hook - ch 28.
Round 1 - hdc in 2nd ch from hook and in each remaining ch, working around the back side of the ch hdc in each st, join with a sl st to 1st hdc (54 total).
Round 2-21 - ch 1 hdc in each st around, join with a sl st to 1st hdc.
Round 22 - ch 1 hdc in next 7 sts, ch 24, sk 8 sts, hdc in the next 19 sts, ch 24, sk 8 sts, hdc in next 12, join with a sl st to 1st hdc.
Round 23 - ch 1, sc in next 6 sts, work 28 sc around the next ch 24 sp on last round, sc in next 19 sts, work 28 scs around the next ch 24 sp on last round, sc in next 13 sps, join with a sl st in beg sc (94 total).
Round 24 - ch 1, sc in each st around (94 total). DONE
Let me know if you have any questions.
Love-
Rusty |
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KathleenL
True Blue Farmgirl
201 Posts
Kathleen
Littleton
Colorado
USA
201 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2010 : 4:35:51 PM
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Thanks for the pattern, Rusty. I don't know when I'll get around to doing this but I'll keep the pattern handy.
Kathy |
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Rusty
True Blue Farmgirl
83 Posts
Rusty
Las Cruces
NM
USA
83 Posts |
Posted - Aug 05 2010 : 08:52:26 AM
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This is for the Cleaning Up - Green Energy discussion that everyone is talking about. We have both electric and gas here in Las Cruces. Our electricity is supplied by El Paso Electric. Our power is generated by natural gas fueled turbines driven by steam. We do have some solar power here because the sun shines almost 11 1/2 months out of the year but most of it is residential. There is some photavoltaic electric energy generated by light but most of it is also residential.
Love-
Rusty |
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Project Discussions: "Green" Power |
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"Green" Power
