Cradle to Cradle

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough & Michael Braungart has to be one of the most inspirational books I’ve read regarding the potential to re-make the future of our economy, environment and social fabric.  Simply put, since the Industrial Revolution, “cradle to grave” manufacturing has been the pervasive model by which things are created.  This has amounted to huge amounts of waste as well as pollution of epic proportions.  The authors propose and put to practice fresh ideas of how to re-make products that nourish the environment and close the recycling (downcycling) loop.

On a side note, upon completing this book, I just so happen to be sitting on a rock by a little swimming hole in Prescott, AZ.  The book is very dense and made of waterproof paper and ink.  Being the curious soul that I am, I promptly plunked it in the creek for a good soaking.  The verdict is: it is indeed waterproof and it still looks as good as new, well, lightly used.  

Filed under: Sustainability

Pine Bark Beetles

To root rake the land or not…

I had that option when I purchased my lot.  Of course, the pervasive thinking where I live is that you SHOULD just clear the lot because as one good ol’ boy told me just the other day (flicking his cigarette butt onto my yard) there are snakes out there.  This I don’t doubt.  I’ve seen them on my walks around the hood.  He informed me, for a few hundred more dollars, he’d be happy to mow all that vegetation down, pointing to the back yard.

Back to when I purchased the lot (50′x150′), it was completely wooded w/ mostly pines.  I directed the clearing which entailed the driveway, the footprint of the house and a 5′ to 10′ barrier around the perimeter of the house.  Being the nature lover-environmentalist that I am, I wanted to save as much as I could even though they were “just pines”.  Since that day I’ve wondered if I did the right thing.  Those pine trees I HAD to save, sap on the cars, sway in the wind when there’s a hurricane and now it appears they are infested with pine bark beetles.  That’s right.  I had a bamboo fence built recently that was attached to one of these sapping pine trees.  That tree is now dead.  Naturally, I wonder if the nails killed the tree.

Fast forward to the good ol’ boy that I called to give me a quote on taking down said tree.  No, the fence didn’t kill the tree.  If I look closely I can see the bark of the tree riddled with holes.  He points out that almost all my pine trees are infected and will probably need to come down.  That’s nice and gives me a warm cozy feeling when I think about Ernesto swirling around toward the gulf.

Ernesto turns out to be a non-event and I can breathe a little easier this week, but that tree is still looming over my solar water tank.  Sometimes it just feels like an exercise in futility when it comes to weighing decisions regarding the environment.  *sigh*   

Filed under: Pine Bark Beetles, Sustainability

Tango

I thought I’d share a photo of the cute little boy, Tango.

He’s the puppy we’ve been fostering for the Canine Rescue.  It was through the Canine Rescue that I became involved with the Bark Park.  two years ago, I called the C.R. and inquired about Rosie, a little hound dog.  We couldn’t adopt her because we didn’t have a fenced yard and being a hound, they are prone to wander after any scent they catch.  So, we were told about a little blue heeler mix puppy, Lola that was up for adoption.  She’s the one we took home and fell in love with.  The person that was fostering her was a woman named Spike and it was her dream to start an off-leash dog park in honor of her late dog, Nyx.  She told me about her vision and I offered my services to help her put her ideas on paper so others could share in the vision.  For the last 2 years, we (a handful of women and fellow dog lovers) have fund raised, petitioned and appealed to the County Commissioners for help in opening a park.  Finally, we were able to secure 2 acres of land in partnership with the county to site the park.  With many generous donations we now have in place all the fencing, water, handicap parking, site prep., pet waste removal service, signage, benches, and a statue of St. Francis of Assissi among other odds and ends.  Today is the big day.  We will be joined by the Chamber of Commerce for an official ribbon cutting in recognition of the Grand Opening.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to capture a few pictures this afternoon to document the event.        

Filed under: Tango, The Bark Park

Grand Opening

 

Filed under: The Bark Park

Oil

Interested and concerned about the potential reality of Hubbert’s Peak Oil Theory, I decided to read Richard Heinberg’s, The Party’s Over (see ‘checked out’).  He has a mesmerizing way of connecting the dots from defining what energy is and how we’ve acquired, enslaved, and consumed it to how it has drastically altered everything we know throughout time.  We are all aware of the widespread use of petroleum to power our vehicles and houses, though you may not be aware of the fact that petroleum is used in the production of just about every product known to man: computers, nylon, plastics, toiletries.  More important is the use of petroleum in agriculture.  This starts with the tractors that plow the fields, then proceeds to fertilizers and pesticides.  Because traditional farming strips nitrogen out of the soil faster than it can be replenished, it needs to be amended.  This is accomplished by applying inorganic nitrogen that is produced using natural gas.  Our food is then harvested and shipped all over the world, again using some means of transportation that probably runs on petroleum.  At one time, farming was quite efficient with a 1:28 ratio of energy input to food output.  Now, with the increased use of pesticides and fertilizers that ratio has been reduced to 1:2.  Not a very good return for the investment.

Wait, I really didn’t want to summarize the book.  I wanted to talk about what really perplexes me about this topic.

Being curious and striving to be objective I decided to research opposing views.  Could it be possible that someone doesn’t believe what I’m reading in this book.  Sure enough, I found many websites declaring Peak Oil to be a myth.  In fact, they (some scientists) claim that oil is in fact abiotic and a renewable resource, which became known during the exploration of Eugene Island.  These websites also claim that the myth is perpetuated by the Elitists for the benefit of large oil companies and great expense to all the rest of us out here who believe we can roll back the tide with our little solar water heaters installed on our roofs.  I became obssessed like any normal person would with trying to figure out what is the truth.  One thing is certain, we won’t know we’ve reached peak oil production until after it happens.

Oh, back to why I’m perplexed…

It really doesn’t matter if Peak Oil is a myth or not.  What matters is that we are constantly being played.  When are we (us regular folks) going to put an end to the manipulation?  Why do we continue to allow these organizations (like our government) and corporations to hold us under a barrel and force feed us whatever they see fit to instil fear and complacency?  Why don’t we have better options?  Better energy options, better housing options, better travel options.  Better options are slowly surfacing thanks to pioneering individuals that aren’t afraid to try and/or have enough capital to experiment.  We all need to think more like pioneers and stop waiting for our local, state and federal government to tell us what to do.  Myself included and I don’t doubt that this is an easier task said than done. 

Filed under: Peak Oil, Sustainability

The Bark Park

I know many of you are curious to know how the Bark Park is coming along. The Park has been fortunate lately to finally be receiving some real press coverage.  The Bark Park was featured on the front page of the Good Life section of the Walton Sun.  Also, local channel 13 or WMBB featured a story on the Bark Park and Debi Revell, owner of Pets Behave. 

Filed under: The Bark Park

Embodied Energy

Since I mentioned eco-products previously, I wanted to expound a bit on one aspect of them, embodied energy.  Following is an excerpt from my presentation at the Living Green Workshop.

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…Choosing sustainability often involves sifting through these options and finding the ones that are best suited to your site.  Using a great eco-friendly, recycled product may not be the best sustainable choice if it requires being shipped clear across the world.

Embodied Energy

This ties to the topic of choosing appropriate building materials based on the concept of Embodied Energy.  Embodied energy in buildings can be broken down into 2 categories: initial embodied energy and recurring embodied energy.

Initial embodied energy is the energy used to acquire, process and manufacture the building materials as well as the energy used to transport the products to site and construct the building.

The recurring embodied energy represents the non-renewable resources used to maintain, repair and replace components during the life of the building.

We can actually add another category that represents the energy used to dispose of the building components once they have reached the end of their life cycle.  Embodied energy is an important measure of sustainable design.

According to the World Watch Institute:

Each year, 3 billion tons of raw materials are used for construction.

Buildings account for ½ of the global output of carbon dioxide.

Production of cement used in concrete accounts for 5-8% of that carbon dioxide.

Concrete 

To illustrate embodied energy as well as introduce you to the idea of exploring how our products are made I want to talk about concrete, more specifically the production of cement.  Compared to other products, cement, the binder in concrete is high in embodied energy.

Cement starts off as raw materials, limestone and sand that are quarried from the earth using heavy equipment. 

The materials are then crushed and mixed by more powered machinery then fed into a tilted rotary kiln.  These rotary kilns are the largest piece of moving industrial equipment in the world. The mixture moves through the kiln, which gets progressively hotter to a temperature of approx. 3,000 F as it is continually fed coal or natural gas. This causes a chemical reaction and the materials fuse into what’s called clinker then the clinker is sent to coolers.  Once cooled the material is crushed to a fine powder and ready to be bagged or sent directly to a concrete supplier.  As you can see, a lot goes into making the glue in concrete before it even reaches our foundations. There are innovations in concrete production.  Fly ash, a byproduct of coal burning plants can be substituted for a percentage of the cement.  Also, pozzolan (volcanic ash) and magnesium oxide, which is mined or processed from seawater are other alternatives to cement….

Filed under: Embodied Energy, Sustainability

The Office Renovation

Bred out of a desire to become more organized (more productive), I began overhauling the office.  It was also a great opportunity to try out some eco-products.  Not that I believe we can save the world w/ the products we purchase, though I am a supporter of the idea that we “vote w/ our wallets”.  Of course, the most sustainable thing to do is nothing: don’t build, don’t eat meat, don’t drive, don’t breed.  Not very realistic for our consumerism/ status anxiety driven world.  Possibly, we can simply evolve into a society that makes environmentally, economically, and socially responsible choices. 

Back to the office…..

I’m not necessarily endorsing these products just sharing

Chartreuse Fedora floor tiles by Flor

(2) Oh! chairs found at a yard sale

Plyboo tables (under construction courtesy of Wayne)

Cool world atlas wall mural (Lauri’s idea) 

Ecoshades (not installed yet) 

  

Filed under: Sustainability, The Office

Collusive Insanity

I must give credit where credit is due.  That credit is due to a reporter from the Beach Breeze that interviewed me following a local workshop I presented on the subject of sustainability.  What does collusive insanity have to do with sustainable design?  Follow along as I attempt to recall how this particular reporter summed up the move toward sustainability as collusive insanity.

He was a friendly reporter with a nice smile and plenty of knowledgeable questions.  Though, all along he would interject with his own obviously cynical remarks.  Often alluding to the hypocrisy of it all, to which I would reply, “we have to start somewhere.”  All and all, he put together a nice article.  During our follow-up interview he threw out the phrase “collusive insanity” as a description of the path to reaching sustainability.  Collusive meaning a secret cooperation to deceive others.  I guess he could be implying that the government et al. are deceiving us with their facts and figures regarding global warming, peak oil, etc.  No surprise there.  Insanity meaning irrational.  We/ they continue to do the same things over and over, expecting different results.  For example, we now have scientific proof that CO2 in our atmosphere is accelerating global warming, but the government continues to support big oil…collusive insanity. 

I really just liked the way those words fit together.     

Filed under: Collusive Insanity, Etymology, Sustainability

Incremental adjustments

It’s been 3 weeks since the installation of the solar water heater.  In case you’re wondering, there are no photovoltaics involved, just passive solar.  What was the driving force behind deciding to go solar?  My insatiable drive to make the world a better place even if it’s just one solar water heater at a time.  Also, I find it necessary to start integrating environmentally, socially and economically responsible choices into my life if I am to encourage other individuals to live likewise.  So, there it sits upon my roof.  Quietly doing its job.  Sometimes I run upstairs to check the incoming pipes to see if it’s working.  For the first 2 weeks, I checked religiously after showering.  Now I anxiously wait for the first electric bill, post solar water heater installation.

    

Filed under: Solar water heater, Sustainability