World-Famous Scientist, LBK Experts, and a dork at the TTU Museum tomorrow!

One of these three people is speaking at the Texas Tech Museum tomorrow (10/16/2016) at 2pm: (And I am excited about it!)

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe and a couple of dorky guys

If you've never heard Dr. H speak, you could be in for a real treat tomorrow, but you have to get yourself over to the Texas Tech Museum (4th and Indiana). It's a bit ironic that Lubbock [where we work so desperately to convince ourselves that we have nothing to worry about or that there is nothing we can do about it] is home to one of the world's most respected and influential climate scientists.  

Dr. Hayhoe and her unsung colleagues at the Texas Tech Climate Sciences Center offer a clear voice of inspiration, wisdom, and hope in an area that offers lots of sound and fury but little else.

The whole event is in support of the Smithsonian/Chicago Museum of Science and Industry Green Revolution exhibit which is now on display at the museum.

All the info you need

Besides the speaker, the reason that I am excited about this event is that it is designed to offer encouragement and support to local people who want to lead greener lives. From 2:30-4 you can visit booths manned womaned peopled by local experts on a number of topics. You can meet the LP&L guy who is the Mother Teresa of LED lighting, you can meet the Tech Recycling people; you can meet our local authorities on xeriscaping, community gardening, water conservation, wind energy, solar power, and so much more. There's even going to be a dorky blogger there talking about electric vehicles and their ability to help us pollute vastly less while saving money and enjoying the ride! (He might also talk a lot about bicycles, give away a few {tiny} Teslas, and give away three self-promoting t-shirts.)

May the dorky blogger see you there and may we all find new ways to make our world a healthier place!

PS. Personal Carbon Reduction makes me so very happy!

Mesquite Hugger Disclaimer 2: Solar/Wind Power vs Energy Conservation

[Earth Day is just 4 days away!]

 

Yep, you know me. I'm an eco-dreamer. One of my struggles with going green is how snagging expensive it can be, especially if you follow popular media and conventional wisdom. If you pay much attention, you quickly develop a high-dollar list of must haves in order to go green:

• solar panels
• electric car
• high-efficiency appliances
• rain collection system
• organic food
• so forth
• so on

It's pretty easy to see that I bought in - at least figuratively. My finance manager, however, did not buy in. My finance manager believes that you should not spend money you don't have. (We argue a lot.)

So, the Mesquite Hugger home does not have solar panels mounted to the roof or a wind generator spinning away in the yard. But I have done a lot of reading in preparation.

Home Energy Saver Calculator

The first two things people do to prepare for going solar is assess their home and clean up their act. The more energy efficient you can make your home, the smaller your solar setup needs are, and that means less money out of your pocket.

So, where do you start?

Electricity

 

One of my favorite electricity tools - simple and inexpensive

This one is multifaceted and can have a huge impact. It can be as simple as working to reduce energy use in rooms you are not in (no lights left on, close a/c and heater vents, eliminate phantom power losses) or measuring power usage of the electric devices you have (Switch to LED bulbs already!!!) or finding ways to not use your electric devices (Hanging your laundry up to completely or partially dry can drastically reduce electricity usage).

20 Things You Can Do to Conserve Energy

Air leaks

Doors, windows, vents, even light switches - these can all contribute to air loss in your home. Sure, it would be great to have someone come over and replace them all, but most air leaks can be dealt with using much less intense and expensive approaches, and many of them can be done by a less expensive technician - you.

US Department of Energy - Tips: Sealing Air Leaks at Home

Insulation

Similar to dealing with air leaks, adding insulation to your home can be a great way to conserve resources and make your house more comfortable all year round.

A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Sealing and Insulating with Energy Star

 

Looking through these on-line resources, you can see that there are lots of projects you can tackle yourself with very little time, money, and skill. Small efforts can make big payoffs when it comes to making your home (or workplace) more energy efficient.

 

May you find a path to green conservation and money conservation with no financing involved!

Instructables Contests: Green Energy and Indoor Gardening!

Artist's rendition of the killer in question - buy here.

I did a little refurbish on my Instructables aquaponics setup over the weekend. To be honest, I do very little with it. It plugs along pretty successfully on its own, but I needed to condense tanks a bit - one of the playa-lake perch refugees had gone on a killing spree, so it was time for some changing, and I wanted to make arrangements to share the light with some potted cherry tomatoes.

As does seemingly everything, it got me to thinking. This time I was thinking about Instructables.

So I swung by the Instructables site and found a few contests that I thought would interest you too.

Instructables Green Energy Contest

Instructables Indoor Gardening Contest

And there's lots of good news. First, they are both still open for entries. Second, they reward people for doing things that dorks people like us like to do in our spare time anyways. Third, you can win cool stuff like electronic gizmos and home aquaponics setups! Fourth, Instructables is just plain cool.

So go build something and get it posted, you lazy hippie wonderful inventor!

May you gain fame and prizes for doing cool and productive stuff!

PS. Here is my own Instructables project blog post: Personal Goal Accomplished - Aquaponics

LHUCA: A Discussion About Fracking - This Saturday Afternoon

The more I research fracking, the more I see it as a reckless and dangerous practice that is quickly accelerating our destruction of our planet and the water that sustains all life on our planet. I view hydraulic fracturing as a form of suicide for our race.

I have found that most people in our area support the practice because of the short-term economic impact and "energy independence". I see wind and solar power as vastly superior forms of power generation that could accomplish the same goals without destroying our future.

I have also found that the majority of the people in our area have very little idea of what the practice involves and what chemicals and risks are involved.

If you are in the Lubbock area and would like to know more about fracking, there will be an explanation and discussion this weekend at the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts. Here is the link. (I hope to see you there.) 

http://www.lhuca.org/documents/FrackingPosterSm.pdf

May our knowledge and decisions be based on truth rather than propaganda. 

FM 1269: Fluvanna

If you have never headed north out of Fluvanna, Texas on FM 1269, then you are missing out on one of the most spectacular views in all of West Texas. Words and smartphone photos are inadequate to describe what you will see.

If you leave Lubbock on Highway 84 heading southeast, you will head through Slaton, Southland, Post, Snyder….and you will eventually hit I-20 which will you speed you on your way to Dallas. Because everyone wants to or has to go to Dallas.

Tucked between Post and Snyder is a little place called Justiceburg. Justiceburg, for me, is a wonderful place. The Caprock, the train tracks, Fort Justice, the Salt Fork of the Brazos, the red clay, Lake Allan Henry, the herd of pronghorn antelope, and all those huge wind turbines up on the Caprock all surround Justiceburg. Fluvanna is just a few short miles away from Justiceburg.

FM1269 runs mostly north/south through Fluvanna. The wind farm is just north of town on that road and the top of the Caprock is a pretty amazing place. The view is breathtaking, the windfarm is also something to see (and hear). At the base of the windmills you will often see a herd of deer that know they live in area where they will not be hunted.

If you head south from Fluvanna on 1269, you will see a different world. Pump jacks, drilling rigs, and ponds set up for hydraulic fracturing (tracking) water supplies dominate the landscape.

I remember an annoying country song a few years ago called "God Blessed Texas". North of Fluvanna on 1269, I believe it. South of Fluvanna, not so much.

May the sun, the wind, and the rain power your future.

NEX8K8T6E7Q4

Easy Breezy Bupkis

As I lay in bed last night trying to go to sleep, I listened to the wind brushing the crepe myrtles against the house. The wind did not cry "Mary" or "Mariah" or any other woman's name, but the wind did speak to me in an annoying Jewish mother voice. "Oy vey," said the wind, "my son the so-called 'mesquite hugger' - but he won't even get off his tukhus and build a little wind generator! What a schlub he is!"

And what she meant was that I have all the stuff - batteries, treadmill motor, bicycle wheels, inverter, and God knows we have the wind here, a charge controller, several defunct computer backup systems. Oy vey, I am a schmo! It's time to get to work!

For those of you who have heard similar groanings in the wind, here are some more Instructables for inspiration:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-a-Wind-Turbine/

And, in the past week there have been four separate treadmills posted in the "free" section of the Lubbock Craigslist.

So, get out there and build your own, be a mensch among shmucks! Shalom!

(RIP Lou Reed - your music has been a blessing in my life.)