Finding Douglas Adams in Mesquite Huggery TV

For those of you who love dolphins, want to save the world, and know exactly where your towel is. 

 

Don't panic, anyone.

 

About 25 years ago I found myself perusing the shelf of a junior high library and I ran across what would become one of my favorite non-fiction books, and it definitely planted an early mesquite seed in my view of the world. The book was called Last Chance to See. It made me laugh. It made me very sad. It made me very angry. I have read it several times since then and I react the same way every time.

 

Wikipedia: Last Chance to See

 

The book is the result of putting a quirky and brilliant sci-fi writer (Douglas Adams) with an accomplished zoologist and conservationist (Mark Carwardine) together to go out and visit a handful of species on the verge of extinction. It was published in 1990. It is a heartbreaker. You should read it.

 

So, imagine my surprise when I was thumbing through Netflix this week and learned that there exists a follow-up TV series of the same name. The series was filmed after Adams' death, so his good friend Stephen Fry stepped in and traveled the world with Carwardine to see how those almost extinct creatures were faring twenty years later. There are six episodes. I got to watch Episode 1 last night, and it is great. And it made me miss Adams all the more. (If you have no Netflix, I ran across some very inexpensive DVDs of the series on Amazon.)

 

The next Douglas Adams spotting happened on Hulu - and it is much smaller but filled me with a lot of mirth.

 

Learn more here

 

Yes, I can readily admit it - I saw a film titled Bicycle and knew that I had to watch it. And it's not bad for bike dorks like me. Okay, it's actually pretty cool and it's worth watching just to see Gary Fisher's facial hair.

 

About 2/3 of the way through the film, a guy makes a Douglas Adams reference while talking about biking infrastructure in the UK. Good, good stuff! (No spoiler here!)

 

May we find inspiration to save what we have and may we find many more reasons to scratch our heads and laugh.

 

So long, and thank you for reading!

Low-hanging Fruit #2: Let there be (more efficient) Light!

Okay, so you've sealed up and insulated your house and you are hungry to taste that next piece of low-hanging fruit. Well, look up...at your light fixtures.

[Alternative title: How to get paid $23.24 for installing 6 free light bulbs in your home!]

First and foremost: Turn off your lights!

Turn off your lights when you leave the room. It's that simple. If you are not in the room and the light is on, you are wasting energy, spending extra money, and damaging the planet. I know - it's harsh, but it's true. (My wife and I are working on doing a better job at this too.)

Second and pretty darned huge: Go buy some LED bulbs already!!!

JG and I ran by Lowes at lunchtime today. (She still has a bunch of incandescent bulbs in her house.) We found this deal on LED bulbs:

That's $1.66 per bulb!

So let's say, hypothetically speaking, that she bought this 6-pack of LED bulbs. (She did indeed buy a 6-pack of LED bulbs, but she bought the daylight bulbs which ran closer to $1.85 per bulb, but I did not take a pic of those.) She plans to install them this weekend.

Back in blogger world, I googled incandescent vs. LED and this was the first graphic that popped up:

Find the original here 

Now, here is where it gets even better - very few modern homes have less than 24 bulbs in the house. And it's not rare to find homes with closer to 60 bulbs. So, if your home is still running old school light bulbs, you could be saving big money just by swapping for LEDs. And that doesn't even factor in bulb life. Most incandescents are rated for 750-950 hours of life. LEDs tend to range between 10,000 and 50,000 hours. I have been replacing bulbs in our home for a few years now and have not had a single LED burn out yet.

Okay, Okay. Enough about money. Let's look at what's really important here: saving the planet!

Check it out - a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions!

Learn more here.

Imagine the impact if we all just switched to LED bulbs overnight. And this one is easy. It's easy on the budget, it's not labor intensive, and it saves you money. This one's a no-brainer. Just do it already!

A few more things about LEDs

• Various formats, shapes, colors, sizes and features (some are even controlled by smartphone apps!)
• Instant light (unlike CFL)
• No mercury hazard (unlike CFL bulbs - the twisty ones)
• They generate very little heat
• They are more rugged than incandescent or CFL
• They make you eco-sexy
• Don't forget that 90% reduction in CO2 emissions!

So, here are six radical ideas for you to pursue after you get your own bulbs swapped out - start giving LED bulbs gifts!

1. Have bulb swapping parties!
2. Have LED interventions!
3. Give them out for Halloween - save the planet while reducing cavities!
4. Don't go to Jarred - go to Lowes or Home Depot or wherever to show them that you really love them!
5. Coffee, tea, or LED?
6. They make great stocking stuffers!

Okay, that's about it for low-hanging fruit #2.

May you save money and save the planet! And, may you now have a lot more gift ideas!

PS. LEDs make great Christmas lights too.

Low-hanging Fruit #1: Conserving Electricity at Home

Okay, I am scrapping my first attempt at this post. It sounded like I had just graduated with an online associates degree for technical writing.

 

So, let's try again and start this off with electricity. Most US electricity is produced in coal-powered or natural gas plants, both of which cause environmental destruction and create serious health problems for living beings - especially for those who are stuck living near these plants. If we want a healthier planet and a better life for people we have two options: start using cleaner production methods (wind, solar, etc.) or start using a lot less energy. (Or both.)

30% of our country's greenhouse gas emissions come from electricity production!

If you are like me, the solar/wind thing is out of the budget and you live in a town (like Lubbock) that strongly discourages solar and wind with prohibitive local zoning. It ain't easy being green (or frugal) here in the LBK.

It ain't easy being green! (Kermit)

So, I guess we need to focus on using less electricity at home.

Take a look around your house to see what is powered by electricity: heaters, air conditioners, washers, dryers, TVs, phones, computers, fans, lights, ovens - the list is extensive!

Let's pick out some of the low-hanging fruit - heaters and air conditioners.

Now you are probably scratching your head here. Does this crazy Mesquite Hugger know how expensive heaters and air conditioners are? Yes, I do. But this is not a post about scrapping it all and starting over. This is a talk about efficiency. Let's look at three steps.

Step 1: Stop those embarrassing leaks.

Energy.Gov: Air Sealing Your Home

Yep, your house probably has air leaks. Doors, windows, light switches, vents, ductwork, ceilings - all of these are possible place where your conditioned air is sneaking out. The leaks cause your heater/ac to work harder which requires more electricity to be consumed which causes you to pay higher bills and our environment to suffer. So, stop those leaks! The hardware is cheap and the skills required are minimal for those of you who want to do it yourself. If you don't want to, then pay a handyman to help you out. You will be amazed at the bang for the buck.

Step 2: Dress appropriately.

This guy gets it!

Let's say it's 30 degrees outside but you are comfortably running around the house in your undies. There's a problem here. Put on more clothes and turn the thermostat down a few degrees. It's a simple but very productive approach to lowering your electricity consumption. And who knows, you may look smoking hot in a sweater! It's all about insulating yourself.

Step 3: Speaking of insulation...

Energy Star: Attic Insulation Project

Add more insulation to your home. Heat rises, so a lot of heat escapes a house by going up. By adding more insulation to your attic, you invite your conditioned air to stick around longer and keep things cozy. Yes, this step is a little more involved than the first two, but it also pays big dividends in conserving energy (and money!)

So there it is - our first low-hanging fruit post. I hope you are finding it tasty and helpful.

May we all find ways to (easily) work together to heal our ailing world.

Bonus Mr. Rogers post: Vintage Electric Car in Mister Rogers' 'hood!

Another Bonus Mr. Rogers post with a dash of Jimmy: Misters Rogers and Carter again? MH looks back a bit.

And another post about energy conservation at home: MH Disclaimer 2: Solar/Wind Power vs Energy Conservation

It's easier...

I struggle with easier.

It's easier for me just to turn on the tap.
It's easier for me just to pay the electric bill.
It's easier for me just to drive a car.
It's easier for me just to pump gas.
It's easier for me just to throw plastic dishes away.
It's easier for me not to save and eat leftovers.
It's easier for me just to ignore the news.
It's easier for me just not to vote.
It's easier for me just to buy a new one.
It's easier for me just to trash it.
It's easier for me just to shop at the big store.

Yes. Those things are all easier.

(Here)

 

It is time to find a new adjective.

It's worthwhile for me capture rainwater.
It's worthwhile for me just to conserve electricity.
It's worthwhile for me to walk, pedal a bike, ride a bus, or carpool.
It's worthwhile for me to choose renewable energy in all forms.
It's worthwhile for me to wash dishes.
It's worthwhile for me to save and eat leftovers.
It's worthwhile for me to follow impactful stories.
It's worthwhile for me to research and vote for my beliefs.
It's worthwhile for me to repair my stuff.
It's worthwhile for me to compost.
It's worthwhile for me have a garden, shop local, or buy used.

(My favorite)

 

May you find life rather than ease. (Thank you for reading!)

700th Post, A Rough Start to Bike to Work Week, and Saving Water

This is Mesquite Hugger Post #700 - I thought I'd celebrate by posting an in-focus pomegranate photo. Enjoy!

 

It's like having Georgia O in the backyard!

 

Lubbock on a Bike

It was my toes or my soles or something that told me. I was about a mile away from the coffee house on a rare (wet & foggy) morning. One foot was slipping on the pedal, the other was firmly staying in place. When I looked down, my problem was pretty obvious:

Yep, one of these things is not like the other.

It's a problem I keep having. My brain was preoccupied with something other than what I was doing. It's a big part of why I have enjoyed things like biking (and scootering, kayaking, motorcycling, etc.). I have terrible coordination, so those things keep my brain fully engaged trying to make hands feet eyes fingers legs arms and everything else work in concert to make it possible for me to ride without catastrophe. There is a great feeling in being fully engaged.

Getting dressed in the morning? Not so much.

But today is the first day of National Bike to Work Week. I biked to work. I am still claiming this one as a win. Now, where exactly is that other pair of unmatched shoes?

Water Conservation

It rained this weekend. (It was awesome!) My yard had taken on a very Captain Crunch feel, but things are much better now. But it did point out the need for me to step it up in the rain collection department. (More on that as I figure out the plan.)

 

The 55-gallon rain barrel was filled in no time at all. I diverted it all to the front yard and captured another 55 gallons right away. I set out every bucket and can I could find and collected another 80 gallons. We have a lot of plants out and hope to be planting more this week, and plants love rainwater.

 

But the goal (for me) is much bigger than just the garden. The real goal is to limit the amount of water we access through the tap in order to stop draining our local water sources. Here in Lubbock, water becomes more and more scarce. Whether you get your water from a municipal pipe or from a well in your backyard, you have access to a very precious resource that we need to conserve.

Want to learn more about rainwater harvesting and water conservation in our area? Check out the High Plains Water District for many great resources, including the brochure below.

One inch = 1,246 gallons - that is awesome!

May you find yourself fully engaged in something worthwhile and enjoyable!

Minipost: Super Cheap LED Lights to the Rescue

An ad from today's local newspaper - man, that's cheap!

Do you want to save the planet?
Do you want to pay less for electricity?
Are you a cheap !@#$% ? (I am!)

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then it's time to switch to LED bulbs in your fixtures.

Lots more great info here

 

So, let's do a little quick math. The average number of bulbs in American homes is 60.) If your house used 60 watt incandescent bulbs, those 60 bulbs would cost you $775.62 per year in electricity.

 

60 bulbs x $12.92 per year = $775.62

 

If you switched those 60 bulbs out for LED bulbs the math looks a lot better:

 

60 bulbs x $2.58 per year = $154.80 per year

 

And those numbers don't even take into account the short life of the incandescents vs. the extremely long life of the LED bulbs.

 

When all is said and done, each LED bulb uses around 1/5 of the power of an incandescent. Think how much coal and natural gas we would not have to burn if we just made that one switch. Think how much money you could save.

 

I have been replacing all of our bulbs for a few years now and have been stepping it up since the bulbs in the ad above became available at our local big box store. They have great, instant light, they put off virtually no heat, and I have never had an LED go out in the house.

 

So, what are you waiting for? Go buy at least one package and try it out, or do yourself a favor and buy a bunch.

 

May all eco-friendly choices become this easy.

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!

When you gonna ______? (A live better sidestep)

Grizz and I discussed it over coffee yesterday morning. Most of us have that thing to get past. Some of us just skip from one to the next. What's yours right now?

Need some help? Just fill in the blanks.

Is your head swimming now? Mine does when I fill in those blanks. A lot of Mesquite Hugger motivation comes from chasing these statements. It goes something like this:

• I am going to start eating local after I grow some veggies.
• I am going to grow some veggies after I build a greenhouse.
• I am going to build a greenhouse after I trim the trees.
• I am going to trim the trees after I buy a saw.
• I am going to buy a saw after I sell some unused stuff.
• I am going sell some unused stuff after I clean the garage.
• Snagit - when am I going to clean the garage?!!!
• I guess eating local is going to have to wait.
• But wait, there is a five-gallon bucket and a little space on the porch - Honey, we're gonna grow tomatoes!

Mesquite Hugger blog posts often look like this.

Where do we go from here? Maybe it's time to figure out our I am going to statements so that we can figure out how to sidestep them. You don't have to be wealthy to live healthy, smart, or well.

So here's your challenge for this week. Identify one (or several) of your I am going to goals and get creative. Find a detour or a shortcut. If you get stuck, google it. Someone else has been there and may have good advice.

A few Mesquite Hugger suggestions to help with your planning: garden, transportation, energy conservation, compost, water conservation, recycling, xeriscaping, food production, food waste, homelessness, hunger, wildlife preservation, simple living, reducing meat consumption, minimalism, spreading the word, anger reduction. You can tackle the whole big world or a tiny piece of your little slice. Any improvement is a win for all of us.

If I can help, shoot me an email.

As always, thank you for reading! May our little sidesteps lead to huge improvements.

Lubbock on a Bike - Why I Ride

The bike is one of my two big pushes for this year. The Lubbock mayoral race is heating up, and a safer town for biking is an issue I want to push, so let's discuss why.

Personal
I am forty-seven years old and I am obese - machines, mirrors, and doctors tell me so. I also have high blood pressure - again with the machines and doctors. I am obese and have high blood pressure because I have made a lifetime of lazy choices in food and transportation. In an effort to reverse these problems, I started commuting to work on a bike.

I have lost (some) weight and my blood pressure is improving, and some other things have improved too. I am happier. I like my town better. I have less anger. I have more energy. I am even eating better.

But lately I have backslid. I have gained a little weight. I have less energy. I like people less. I have even gotten depressed. Me and cookies? We're tight again.

What happened? At the beginning of December I parked the bike. I allowed cold weather and holiday traffic to temporarily discourage me from riding. After the holidays a big snowstorm hit and cold weather prevailed. The bike gathered dust in the garage.

Life is better when I ride.

On a bigger scale...
...the bicycle has bigger virtues. Most of those virtues involve treading lightly. The opposite of treading lightly is having each of us hopping in a 4,000 pound gas-powered vehicle every time we have a small errand to run. The same lazy choices that made me fat and unhealthy have led us (collectively) to even bigger problems. Each time we choose a car over a bike we choose to damage the air we breathe and we actively promote the destruction of soil, water, and the ability for life to thrive. We have reached a point where we understand the damage we are doing, but we choose the short-term comfort of easy (and poor) choices. Petroleum consumption also encourages us to be unethical in our acquisition of more oil. We love cheap oil no matter who we buy it from or how much damage it does. Those of us who live near the oilfields see the unemployment we create by buying cheap middle-eastern oil. It is a vicious cycle that leads us all to wonder why our society is going to hell in a handbasket. Everybody grows more hopeless, then we jump in our cars, drive terribly, and make each other madder and more hopeless. (Personally, I would rather see us pursue homegrown renewable solar, wind, etc.)

A simple question - are you happier or less happy after your drive to work, school, etc.?

[I blog (Yes, I know, this is a Why I Ride post...) to keep myself on track for making healthier choices, both for myself and everyone around me. What I'd really love, as a human and a blogger, is a revolution of healthier choices for all.]

Why I ride? The decision to ride is a series of small but impactful choices: a less damaging commute, a happier life, better health, and a simple way to make life better for all. (By the way, I also like how much money I save by riding, but that's a topic for another post.)

May you find a way to make your own healthier choices, and may we see more people on a bike.

Lubbock Christmas Gift Idea Numero Uno - SPWRC

One of my absolute favorite places/organizations/groups in Lubbock is the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. I love wildlife. I love people who work to conserve and preserve wild places and wild animals. I love SPWRC.

 

With that in mind, I would like to encourage you to support them this Christmas by making a donation, volunteering some time, or buying your favorite nature lover an SPWRC t-shirt.

 

SPWRC T-Shirt $15.00

OPEN HOUSE THIS WEEKEND!!!

Speaking of the SPWRC, you have a rare opportunity this weekend to attend their open house and view their new barn and new waterfowl rehab center. The event lasts from 11-2 tomorrow (December 19). More info here: SPWRC.org.

You can also support this great organization through a GoFundMe campaign or through the Amazon Smile program.

May your gift giving spread joy and health in all directions.

Bonus links: Some of our previous visits to SWPRC

Lubbock People Who Rock: SPWRC

Lubbock Local Wildlife: Get Ready for Spring (SPWRC)


PS. Please tell them the Mesquite Hugger sent you!

Climate Talk in Lubbock?!!! A nice welcome home!

I read the news with excitement this morning. There is a climate change talk at the local university this Saturday.

Last week my wife and I took a mini vacation in a beautiful place and a place where there are signs that some of the locals give a damn. Monday was our first day back, and I have to admit that it was hard to settle back into our home town.

Free publications encouraging green energy and conservation - imagine that!

Speaking of conservation...

A business operating completely on its own solar power

 

My kind of carport!

 

Not so much.

I watch closely and see few signs that anyone here gives any thought to (or even believes in) climate change. The main local focuses seem to be bigger houses, more powerful cars, and more extravagant ways to tailgate. Yep, I sometimes feel like a green peg in a black hole.

But I now have plans for Saturday. From 1:00-3:30 (Room 169 of the Human Sciences Building at Texas Tech) there is a free talk about climate change. And I am excited. There will be two speakers, and one of them has shown up on Mesquite Hugger before - Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, the internationally known climate scientist, a woman who gives me hope as a mesquite hugger, as a Christian, and as a human being

Learn more here:

http://lubbockonline.com/education/2015-10-20/climate-change-event-scheduled-saturday-texas-tech

May we meet somewhere to deal with the damage that we have been inflicting on our badly battered planet.

Lubbock Local Wildlife: Earth Day, Drought, Clapp Park

Earth Day is fast approaching. April 22. This will be Earth Day's 45th anniversary, so Earth Day and I are close to the same age. This year I have wanted to do something more significant to honor the day. The old brain casted about for the right thing, and then I ran across this article:

Earth Day Pond Cleanup

And Clapp Park came to mind. I love Clapp Park. I love that such a wild and often beautiful place is a two-minute bike ride from my house. (I love Mae Simmons and Aztlán Parks in the same way, but they require a lot more pedaling.) I decided to spend a few hours picking up trash at Clapp to mark and celebrate Earth Day. I am going for the old Think Globally, Act Locally idea this year.

Wednesday was a rough day - lots of rough news about people around us. Sasha and I found ourselves with a shared restlessness, so we decided to walk around Clapp on an Earth-Day scouting run. (Note to self: never go to Clapp without a real camera, the vaguely intelligent phone just does not do it justice.)

We saw lots of cool things and apparently smelled even more. We saw some nice raised-bed gardens inside the arboretum fence. We saw evidence that someone has been using tree branches to lay out protected areas for butterfly gardens and other small nature refuges. We also saw that someone had been working at clearing trash.

On a less positive front, we saw that the two ponds had dried up to almost nothing. We saw lots of trash. Lots of trash. The two remaining spots of water were teeming with overcrowded life - turtles, frogs, fish, and opportunistic birds.

With man-made trash and drought, the place has become a bittersweet place for me, but one worth working for. So, what are your plans for Earth Day?

May every day be Earth Day, and may you be one of those who keep it going.

Lubbock: Remember the Drought?

One of the best parts of being a bicycle commuter is getting a closer look at where you live.

One of the worst parts of being a bicycle commuter is getting a closer look at where you live.

Over the last few weeks I have seen a change in the town - people, businesses, churches, and schools have started watering their yards.

On a bike, that means 1) it's time to install some fenders, 2) you need to be careful to avoid all of the standing water, or 3) you are going to show up at work with a muddy butt. My watery nemesis these days is the southwest corner of 50th and Utica.

In a bigger sense, it means that we (Lubbock) are not scared of drought.
.
I have been following the plight of Californians in this time of drought. Things are getting desperate. A very informative article showed up on Mother Jones this week. As I was reading through it, I realized how many of the same issues they are facing are very present here. The only difference is that we were fortunate enough to get some significant rain in recent times. We were (ever-so-slightly) pulled out of our severe drought. The Californians haven't been so fortunate.

Mother Jones: 7 Key Facts about the Drought

The article highlights drought issues surrounding municipal water use, agricultural water use, and fracking water use. (Sound familiar?) It also includes a pretty terrifying graphic that captures US drought conditions 1 week ago.

Image from the Mother Jones article (with a few additions)

California (of course) shows extreme drought throughout the state. The Texas panhandle has the next-most severe drought area - in the counties just to the north and east of Lubbock.

It's early April. Today's forecast already has us in the 90's.

Lubbock citizens, please actively pursue water conservation.

May we work together for a common good.

Personal Ethics and Being a Mesquite Hugger

It’s a little easier this time of year. It was cold this morning, but there was little wind and no moisture in the air. If you are cold, pedal harder! I rode a bike to work four days this week. The importance of that statement lies not in what I did, but in what I did not do. I did not drive my truck to work four days this week. Now you’re talking! 80% reduction in fuel consumption! Positive steps! Way to go, Mesquite Hugger!

It’s a little but insistent voice that drives a lot of my actions. I have written about it here before – sometimes with lots of nasal Yiddish, sometimes in quiet retrospection, sometimes in seething anger. It’s the voice that keeps tries to keep me in line with my personal ethics. It’s the voice that keeps me defining what my personal ethics are.

As I rode to work this morning, the voice was pretty happy with my actions but was highly judgmental of others’ actions – all the idling cars parked in front of houses, the bank that overwaters daily, the driver with the loud music/rolling stops/no blinkers. Stop being such a self-righteous and judgmental jerk, snagit! Then I started pondering the voice in other people. I played with the idea of creating a survey for you, Dear Reader. After the survey, I could post anonymous results and evaluate the state of our eco-union and all that. I started working on questions.

What issues do you care about and work to improve?

What issues do you care about but not work to improve?

Do you spend any time analyzing your own actions?

Do you spend more time analyzing the actions of others?

What could you do to make the world a better place for all?

What are you doing to make the world a better place for all?

Do you hear voices, and is that a healthy thing?

If the Mesquite Hugger rides by you on his bike, will you bump that self-righteous jerk off the road?

In case you and your voice are wondering about the survey, just scribble the answers on a postcard and mail them to yourself just email, tweet, or text them to yourself. See what your voice has to say about them.

May you have a wonderful day, and may you and your voice be the best of friends!

Minipost: Glass Recycling (sort of) Returns to Lubbock!!!!!

Another uplifting sign from Lubbock, snagit! (photo from the video below)

I just learned about this KCBD story and wanted to share the news - Lubbock residents can get back to recycling glass - thanks to Texas Tech! Here's the story and video:

Texas Tech provides solution to Lubbock family's recycling problem

May good news about recycling keep coming!

A previous post on the subject: Eek!

And a little about Glass Recycling

Walking, Coffee, Stuff, Minimalism Challenge, Saturday Mornings, etc.

As I get a bit older, I keep thinking differently about stuff and busy-ness.

Some of that fancy latté art

Let's talk about Saturday mornings. I love Saturday mornings. I sleep in a little on Saturdays, almost an hour longer than normal. I get up quietly, throw on some clothes, grab a few things, and walk over to the local coffeehouse. Besides clothes, I have my ever-present phone, wallet, and keys. I also carry a grocery bag, my journal, my bible, a pen, and some cheater glasses. The grocery bag I fill up with trash as I walk the neighborhood and drop it in a dumpster near the coffeehouse. I am usually one of the first to arrive at the coffeehouse. I order a single coffee drink and a whole-wheat cinnamon roll. I sit in the back corner reading, writing, sipping, munching, and sometimes planning blog posts. I am usually there about an hour. As I walk home, I pick recyclables up. When I get home, I usually climb back in bed with my lovely wife - she is not a morning person, and that is probably a good thing.

The thing about these particular Saturday mornings, I have everything I need. I usually spend around five dollars. In our world of stuff and hurry, this is a time of little stuff and little hurry. Weather does not affect it. I can walk in snow, rain, fog, heat, wind. The coffee can be hot, cold, good, terrible. The cinnamon roll can be the same. The temperature inside the building also matters little.

The only variable that ever messes things up for me is noise level. If the music is too loud and distracting or the patrons are too loud and distracting, then I get nervous and don't enjoy the morning so much. I go there seeking a reverential contentment, but noise can melt that away. (I should probably re-think the ever-present cell phone too.)

For me, contentment is the important word. I am not seeking joy or happiness. On Saturday mornings, I work at being content. When I find that - happiness, joy, patience, even a tiny bit of wisdom - things all seem to fall in place. The week is better, and I have more resilience to face it and to care for those who need me.

After having read this far - pat yourself on the back for attention-span endurance - here is a nifty little pair of links to help you if you are trying to slow down a bit to seek a bit of contentment:

Green Livivng Ideas article about the minimalism challenge

The 30-day Minimalism Challenge

I am a big fan of days 1, 4, 10, and 24. I dont think I will struggle much with days 9, 17, and 23.

May you find some contentment in your days. Thank you, as always, for reading this blog!

¡Ollas! (Oi-uhs!) Oy vey! - PCR Garden Progress

While it's still too early to plant, I snuck in a little more prep work this weekend. In a very short period of time and with very little money invested, I made 4 ollas.

 

Why ollas? They are reputed to be simple, efficient, and effective for watering plants with minimal water waste and consumption. And they are super cheap to build! (And I am super cheap! And I love to conserve water!) So I decided to build a few to try them out. I hear that tomato plants really like ollas.

 

Straight out of wikipedia.org:

Because water seeps through the walls of an unglazed olla, these vessels can be used to irrigate plants. The olla is buried in the ground next to the roots of the plant to be irrigated, with the neck of the olla extending above the soil. The olla is filled with water, which gradually seeps into the soil to water the roots of the plant. It is an efficient method, since little water is lost to evaporation or run-off.^[2]

 

I need to go back and do a little sealing with some silicone - the one I tested leaks a bit. In the bottom photo you see $11 worth of pots.

Two four-inch pots, glue, and a plastic sour cream lid.

I used a cordless drill with a stone to quickly remove casting lips on the drain.

Be sure to cut your lid in a perfect circle like I did! I tried to cover the entire bottom surface so that water would only seep out the sides of the olla. Glue the plastic over the hole in the bottom.

Glue the pots together. I used duct tape to hold the glue in place while it dried.

 

What will I do different next time? I will skip the glue and go straight to a silicon product. I will probably purchase a bigger stone bit to open the hole on top of the olla a bit more so that it will be easier to pour water into the olla. I will keep you posted!

 

May we find simple ways to eat better, healthier, and cheaper.

 

 

Click this line to see last Mesquite Hugger post about ollas and a group in Albuquerque that makes some grogeous ollas to sell.

Simple Conservation Tips for Lubbock: Bottles and Bags

Bottles and cans: plastic, tin, aluminum, or glass?

My favorite brewery favors aluminum cans!

When aluminum is available, it is my favorite option. It is lightweight, transports and recycles easily, and end consumers can save cans and sell them by the pound or donate them to charities that sell aluminum to support their operations. Aluminum is almost infinitely recyclable. Tin has many of the same virtues; however, there is a lot less money in selling it to recyclers. Recycling aluminum and tin lessens the need for mining and the environmental destruction that comes with it.

Choose glass only if you choose to reuse the container for another purpose. Glass does recycle well, but it is expensive to haul and to recycle. It is often cheaper to make new glass than it is to recycle old glass. Plus, Lubbock's glass tumbler is broken - our city no longer recycles glass at all.

Plastic - while plastic has the virtues of light weight and recyclability, it has two big flaws. First, plastic degrades with each recycling, so it cannot be recycled over and over like aluminum, tin, and glass can. Second, plastic is almost always a petroleum-based product that comes at a high carbon cost to the environment and increases our country's dependence on others for petroleum. We are seeing more and more plant-based plastics, but these can still be environmentally destructive because they are very water intensive and also divert farmers from growing food crops - which can lead to higher food prices and food shortages.

Bags: Paper or Plastic?

The most obvious answer is neither. The best option avaialable is to take your own reusable bag. It is even worth it to invest a few more dollars in cotton or canvas bags that hold up longer and that tolerate frequent laundering. Stash a few in your car or backpack so that you always have extras for those unexpected shopping trips (or the windfall veggies from your coworker who overplanted this year's garden.)

You will look eco-sexy shopping with bags like these!

Next in line I choose paper. While both are recyclable, the paper bags are also biodegradable and are not petroleum-based. Do not be afraid to reuse either paper or plastic bags on your shopping trips. You may get a funny look from a cashier, but I have never had a cashier refuse to use a shopping bag I brought with me. Just be mindful that a retailer may not be happy to see your Target or Walmart bag in their store.

May your simple steps make great strides!

Cheap and Green: Dryer Venting Inside the House

Ours look like this one from the HQ article - around $12 at the local hardware store

It happened this week. The cold hit town. On Sunday it snowed all day. The heater has been working hard! And the heater was sucking the humidity right out of the house.

So, I busted out the secret weapon - the alternative dryer vent. (Actually, all I had to do was flip the lever since the device was already installed.) It vents heat and humidity into the house rather than away from it. It is not nearly so green as the clothesline in the backyard, but clothes don't dry very fast when the temp is below freezing. So, if you are going to be using a dryer anyway, you might look into this to help your heater take a break.

WARNING: If your dryer is gas-powered, don't even think about it - this is only an option for people with electric dryers. And it is crucial that you clean the lint out often.

Here are two articles to familiarize yourself with the practice and with potential pitfalls.

Ebay Article: Can You Vent a Dryer Inside?

Homespot HQ Blog: Keeing the Dryer Heat Inside

May you be warm and need less lip balm while wasting less energy.

More Texas in Eco-News, and It's Great News!

In the last decade, it has become difficult to watch nature documentaries. You are watching along in reverie for the first two-thirds, and then you get the message. And the message is very simple. Nature is grand and glorious and staggeringly beautiful, but we had better do something soon because human beings have screwed it up royally and this majestic ________ you have been watching is almost extinct because of our greed, selfishness, and naivete. Once in a great while, there is a glimmer of hope at the end, but it usually just ends in gloom and doom.

The Texas news (from two different sources) in this post is one of those glimmers of hope.

From the Treehugger article:

A unique partnership between The Nature Conservancy, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, Conservation Fund and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has created an incredible opportunity to help rehabilitate the Gulf region. Using fine money resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the group has stewarded one of the largest single conservation investments in the history of Texas: the acquisition of Powderhorn Ranch.

And, in case you want to see the area for yourself (from the comfort of your media device,) here is the Texas Parks and Wildlife youtube video of the Powderhorn Ranch. Click here.

So, why am I so excited? First, it preserves an area where wildlife, the land, and the water can heal and thrive. Second, it is mostly funded by fines from the biggest eco-disaster the Gulf of Mexico has yet experienced - the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. From a horrible disaster comes a glimmer of hope.

From the Laura Huffman in the conservationfund.org article:

“The Gulf of Mexico is the hardest working body of water in the country, but it desperately needs nourishment. We have steadily stripped away its natural defenses, endangering wildlife, nature and the millions of residents who live in coastal communities,” said Laura Huffman, Texas state director for The Nature Conservancy. “This investment in Powderhorn Ranch protects the best of the last coastal prairies left in Texas and stitches together a network of protected lands that are vital to the resilience and health of the Gulf Coast.” 

Thank you to all of the groups who have worked so diligently to make this happen!

May the glimmers of hope overwhelm us!