Down On The Urban Farm

We just posted out newest weekly sustainability article on creating your life to be more green and it is on greywater. http://www.smartspacestv.net/learn/

Just what is greywater you ask? It is all the water that comes out of your sinks (not including your kitchen), showers and washing machine. Yeah and what do you do with it?

Well that's the easy and not so easy part. The easy answer is redirect your greywater to the plant outside your home. The hard part is how. In a lot of cases this requires rethinking your drains. If your drains (such as your shower) are below grade there is not much that can be done. On the other hand as you rething yourl iving space in the future - remodeling and such - this presents a great opportunity to reroute your water.

Short of remodeling here are some ideas for using greywater in your yard.

• Try to use the greywater as close to the source as possible as the drain pipe needs a slope and the further away from the source the more it needs to slope down.

• Never ever store greywater. It gets stiny and goes bad fast. Design your system so that your greywater goesdirectly into the ground.

• Use soaps like the biocompatible Oasis soap when cleaning as you dont want harsh chemicals in your yard.

Ideas for types of systems:

• A hose over the tree in the summer
• Put in an out doorshower or sink for rinsing your veggies
• You can also replumb your bathroom sink - more costly and time consuming however.

Hey - want more information check out our latest article on it or www.harvestingrainwater.com

This is a good primer article on carbon trading with some links to organizations that are educating about carbon trading.

The post gives us links to three organizations: Zerofootprint, TerraPass and Native Energy that have Carbon Offset certificates available.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/06/06/startups-that-fight-global-warming/

Today I am sitting at my desk paying bills. What I can't believe is the amount of companies that still send return envelopes with their bills. The power company, water company, credit cards, doctor bills, cell phone bill all come with a handy self addressed (too bad they don't pay for the postage) envelope.

But...

For those of us that pay our bills on line we don't need them. Such a waste.

Well a few months ago I decided to save all these envelopes for reuse later - I have accumulated 30 in that time. In that time I have had the occasion to use one or two. But what do I do with the rest.

This is just an example of one of the many one use assets that we have in our culture that get used once - or in this case not at all.

So it is time that we make a request of the companies to STOP sending the envelopes. At least that is where I am going with it and I encourage you to do the same.

Colin the No Impact Man in his post opened the door to begin exploring just how to go about changing peoples minds about how to live a lighter footprint. He writes “without judgment” as the opening text to his post. THIS is a very important piece of the collective work that we need to do in order to create significant change in our world.

In my travels and teaching I have found that whenever we cast judgment and our opinions at people they stop listening. Having people listen in our line of work (making the planet a safer and healthier place for future generations) is probably the most important tool that we have in creating future change.

Daniel Quinn, the writer of the incredibly successful series of books that began with Ishmael, speaks about the best way to create change in the world. He infers that putting programs in place doesn't work because when you require people to do something it has them stop listening. He then goes on to propose that change happens when you change peoples minds. So what can we all do to change peoples minds?

As with Colin, I strive to live a life that encourages people to think about the choices that they make. I drive a Honda Insight Hybrid, live in a self proclaimed environmental showcase home called the Urban Farm in the heart of Phoenix, AZ, generate a lot of my own electricity, grow a lot of my own food with my edible landscape, use greywater to irrigate the landscape and show it all off as often as I can get away with. Yesterday the Urban Farm hosted a class on Composting, one on Keeping Chickens in urban areas, and did a tour. We exposed this space and our work to about 75 people. And boy were they excited.

People are eager for information on how to live a greener lifestyle. By feeding it to them in a non-judgmental way, we are opening the door for them to listen. Those people then go out and share it with others (like those ladies idling their cars) and change their minds. Not judging can be very hard, this I know, but it is a very good way to get our work done.

I am a wine aficionado, albeit an amateur, I still like a nice glass or two of red. Blends seem to be my favorite, but I'll try any glass once. At the same time I also have this deeeeeeep green streak in me. Organic, sustainable, green - I stuck my little toe into internet wine cellar and this is the beginnings of what I found...

Organic Consumers Association's article on growing organic grapes.

The tip of wine sustainability.

Eco Friendly Wines

Interesting take on the grape mush left over...

and one wineries take on defining sustainability.

As the concerns about the polycarbonate bottles mount we have been looking at what we as a company will do. Articles like the one below have fired concerns about what is really happening to our health as we consume liquids from all plastic bottles. I personally believe in what one of my professors in grad school taught - Prudent Avoidance. If there is some question about the safety of something like a plastic bottle...don't use it. There are plenty of solutions in the stainless steel realm and you can also reuse a glass bottle.

"Worries about hormone-mimicking BPA used in sports bottles led a major Canadian retailer to remove Nalgene and other polycarbonate plastic containers from store shelves in early December. BPA—or bisphenol A—mimics the effects of estrogen in cells and some researchers and environmentalists revealed it can be toxic and cause several types of cancer (breast and prostate) as well as developmental, neural, behavioral, and reproductive harm (miscarriages and other reproductive failures), and obesity and hyperactivity in animals. Fred vom Saal, professor of biology at the University of Missouri and one of the study’s chief authors said the panel reviewed 700 published articles on BPA, practically all published in the last 10 years, yet US health and environmental regulators “are pretending they’re still in the dark.”" Read more>>>

There is a great article on SaveChange about the different methods of composting.