Conservance

Whatever You Do; Don't Call It Green

Category: motivation

October 6, 2010

Plans For Today

Today I have 2-3 goals depending on my level of energy and dedication.

Goal 1:

Replace the flex-plate on the BMW.

Goal 2:

Clean the shed.

Goal 3:

Finish the speedometer/gauge assembly for the Death Machine, Black Lightning.

Why are these goals being posted on my (semi)professional blog?

Simply because I can. Seriously though, the BMW is a 528e. One of the most economical vehicles still on the road today. Once I replace the flex-plate, I can start getting 30-35 mpg driving all over town again.

The shed is becoming home to my next venture: taking the Conservance philosophy and style, and applying them to motorcycles and whatever else I damn well feel like. A good cleaning and reorganizing will make my life so much easier. It also will be nice to have a place out of the elements to work on the motorcycle.

Once I finish the gauges, the bike is effectively done. The last major hurdle will be the BMV inspection.

If all goes well: two stylish and efficient vehicles will be ready for the open road. Huzzah!

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July 20, 2010

Outside

I am again helping at Camp Willson, and thoroughly enjoying myself! But I realized something today: when I mention the “outdoors” there’s an assumption that I mean the current perception of “outdoors.” The one that involves $1500 mountain bikes, $200 hiking shoes, and the latest in high tech outdoor gear.

No. I simply mean outside.

This week, my footwear consist of canvas boat shoes, sport sandals, and flip flops. If I wasn’t forced to wear sport sandals; I’d be wearing the flip flops.

My best memories of camping, involve my parents camper and cheap pup tents. Nothing crazy.

When I say go outside, just go outside.

It will do you a world of good. But let me put it this way: Being outside gives you an excuse to be tan. And not that lame, slightly effeminate “laying out” crap either.

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July 17, 2010

Ride With Style

Vespa Sprint Veloce from Motor Modif

.: Motor-Modif ~ Ride With Style :..

Right there, that ridiculously cool style should be illegal. Like a Sean Connery James Bond it’s so elegant and so stylish.

And it gets like 80 mpg.

So let’s add this up shall we:

Style:: Check

Fun:: Check

Environmentally Responsible:: Check

Guys, that formula is how you get women today. Go out and buy a cool scooter!

RIGHT NOW!!!!

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March 29, 2010

Most Efficient Building In America!

Nuns have built the most environmentally responsible building in the United States! Nuns!

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January 25, 2010

Spotlight: Sustainable South Bronx

It’s good to point out successes. Both one’s own, and those of others who seek the same goals as you. It helps to know that someone somewhere is making a difference, gaining ground.

In an earlier article, I posted a video of Majora Carter speaking at TED. Carter was an active participant and catalyst in the “greening the ghetto” movement. Working within the South Bronx to bring about environmental justice, to reform communities and integrate environmentally friendly and sustainable practices into community development. At its heart, SSBX (Sustainable South BronX) is an organization centered on cleaning up the South Bronx neighborhood and foster economic development and growth.

Quality

What’s even better than their mission, is the level of quality they bring to it. Their awards, recognition and successes read like a novel. And their commitment to quality is the reason they’ve been so successful.

The Stance

Social, economic, and environmental responsibility is basically embodied in the plans, programs, and people of SSBX. Beyond that, their motto “green the ghetto” is hilarious!

Check it yourself

SSBX – Webpage for Sustainable South Bronx

Majora Carter – Speech given by Majora Carter at TED.

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January 23, 2010

Global Warming, More Complex Than You Realize

Let’s get one thing straight: I hate the term “global warming.” Because as written on Writechic Press some individual in B.F.E West Virginia will walk outside on the coldest day of the year and wonder “where’s the warming at?” (side note, you can tell I’m from Ohio, because I ended that question with a participle. Completely unnecessary.)

Unfortunately “global climate change” carries baggage with it as well. But it is a much more correct term. However “warming” carries with it a sense of urgency, and there was much more action when it was referred to as “global warming” as opposed to now. Semantics.

More Than CO2 Levels

Let’s state one big factor: Man made global warming is more than just CO2 levels.  There are other factors involved beyond gases and emissions.

The biggest ones that don’t get mentioned are:

Deforestation

Extinction

Loss of biodiversity

Pollution, in its fullest definition

It is a complex problem with many facets. CO2 and other greenhouse gases are a part of it, and more than that, aggravate other issues. Like an infection aggravating an illness.

To distill it to its essence: There is a natural process through which the Earth regulates itself. However we have reduced or damaged the systems through which the earth work.

One snowflake

Any one of those issues, and others not listed, on their own are serious but not catastrophic. But as they come together it becomes more and more dire. One snowflake on its own won’t cause any damage, but when it combines with others under the right circumstances (or wrong for that matter) an avalanche ensues.

Forests depend on a healthy ecosystem to work properly. Healthy ecosystems depend on biologic diversity. Biologic diversity is threatened by extinction and pollution.

So it breaks down like this: As we pollute, we damage ecosystems, causing extinction and the loss of species. This in turn weakens the ecosystem, which inhibits the processes by which the earth would correct and balance itself. This then causes extinction to increase more rapidly.

It’s like underfeeding a racehorse, loading it with an overweight jockey, limiting its stride, and then wondering why it doesn’t win races.

Complex Problem, Simple(ish) solutions

We understand that pollution causes global climate change. We also understand that plants regulate the atmosphere taking in CO2 and releasing oxygen. Furthermore, if we want healthy plants we need a healthy ecosystem Healthy ecosystems are marked by biodiversity.

Understanding that, the simple way to stop global warming is to restore habitats. I.E plant trees and protect and restore habitats.

This combined with capping emissions would allow us to restore the environment to healthy levels. Furthermore, those who manage land responsible stand to make money selling carbon offsets. As  I stated before individuals, corporations, and even some government organizations could make profit simply by doing what they already do.

The Stance

I’m not advocating some sort of “green anarchy.” But I am advocating smarter decisions at every level of society. Our cities should be planned and laid out better, to both lessen their impact on the environment, and make them better for citizens. Buildings codes need to be addressed to make buildings more efficient and better built. And the list goes on, every facet of our society needs to be more responsibly planned and implemented.

Right now our modus operandi is “we can do it, so why don’t we?” when it needs to be “we can do it, but should we?”

7 comments
January 13, 2010

Kinks

I ended yesterday’s post talking about the kinks within environmentally clean and sustainable technologies. And this is the continuation of that thought.

*warning, this is more my own thought, and less hard facts

The Critics

There are quite a few critics mounting arguments against the clean and sustainable revolution. But the one I hear most often, with it various derivatives is this:

“It’s not effective right now.”

And the biggest subset of this argument is leveled against renewable energy production.

“Currently, renewable sources of energy make up 6-7% of the total energy production in the US. Therefore the needs of the people can’t be met.”

Bad Logic

This is just bad logic.

It’s a circular argument. We can’t use renewable energy because it doesn’t work right now. And it doesn’t work right now because we don’t use it. Looking at the power production argument: Coal, natural gas, or oil on their own couldn’t provide enough power for the United States. They only make up roughly a quarter of power generation.So by the logic above, we shouldn’t be using them either.

Furthermore, renewable energy doesn’t work right now, because we don’t use it? If something isn’t in use, then of course it doesn’t work. When your lights are turned off, they aren’t working. That doesn’t mean they won’t or can’t work, it just means they aren’t. When your car isn’t running, it isn’t working. However when you turn the key, it starts right up and away you go.

Kinks

Let’s get one thing straight: there are kinks in every system. When cars first came out, FIRST came out, they were steam powered and could only be bought by a select few (namely monarchs). And furthermore, the roads and infrastructure necessary, didn’t exist. We didn’t have freeways until after WWII! early automobile. Note the lack of heat, roof, doors, windshield, seat belts, rubber tires, etc.

Electricity, Ben Franklin knew about it, but it didn’t really mean much until Edison. That’s a separation of some years, and it wasn’t until after Edison that we looked into power generation.

Locomotives and steam power. Steam powered locomotives conquered the West. But when they were first invented, the steam engine was a toy, it was underpowered and almost useless. Furthermore, they needed rails to run on. Steel rails, aren’t a naturally occurring phenomena. And now, we use steam power to generate our electricity, but the heights of development are astounding!

George Stephenson’s engine Rocket

What’s Holding Us Back?

Nothing.

Ultimately, nothing.

As a system is implemented on a large scale the kinks are worked out, the shortcomings addressed, and the efficiency of the system is improved. That’s the short answer.

For the long answer I need to reference the book Beyond Trend my Matt Mattus. Mattus is the designer for Hasbro, and soon after starting with Hasbro, took a trip around the world to study design. He came to a startling conclusion: Global companies, and the speed of connectivity in the world, had effectively smothered design. There are no new trends in design, as soon as something catches on, it’s mass marketed and killed.

It’s not just design, look at music. According to Billboard.com of the top 200 albums sold in 2009, 35 (including 2 from Michael Buble and 1 from Madonna) were from bands or music who’s heydey was pre 1990. Roughly 17% of the top 200 albums sold last year, were albums or bands from one to two generations prior. *I’m all for great music, don’t get me wrong

These two trends, the loss of design and classic albums still being sold and released (coincidentally, Led Zeppelin, CCR, and Pink Floyd were all included in those 35 albums), highlight a growing concern.

Stoppage in Innovation

I’ll say it. We’ve stopped innovating.

That sentence is partially for shock value, and even as I say it I know that individuals are coming up with innovative solutions everyday. But no longer are they being implemented. More often then not, they’re squashed and silenced. Technology rights are bought up, patents secured, or in worse cases individuals suffer accidents (Search Stan Meyer and water powered car).

The issue is simple. The organizations and individuals who stand to lose most from an economy centered around clean and sustainable initiatives are strong enough now to stop innovative ideas from catching on.

Read through the funding sources of global warming deniers, track down who funded the hacking of climatologists emails, and just look at who is making a killing off of the current economic setup.

I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but this does lend itself in that direction. Especially given that solar and wind technology have been around since the 70s, hydro power has been around since the 1800s, and cars have been able to achieve ultra-efficient MPGs for years, but nothing has really changed.

This is the greatest crime of all: We keep being told that in the near future clean energy and sustainable economies will be viable, that’s the same statement posed again and again from the 1960s on. We’ve waited enough, and enough “near futures” have come and gone it’s time we demand change.

9 comments
January 7, 2010

NASA Should Consult

I received an email from my dad today with the note “[s]hows how little we know.”

The article (click here) from USA Today, deals with Voyager 2′s most recent transmission back to Earth. It’s roughly 8.3 Billion miles from Earth, and it’s still moving further into space, and transmitting data back to Earth. It’s astounding.

This is the most recent success for NASA that highlights something amazing: NASA’s projects seem to consistently perform above and beyond the expectations and timelines set forth by them.

Don’t get me wrong, when NASA has a failure, it’s a tremendous failure, but there successes are so overwhelmingly… successful.

The Mars Pathfinder Missions: Sojourner worked according to the NASA website “12 times” past its expected lifespan, and the Pathfinder module, worked 3 times past it’s lifespan.

Mars Rover Project: Both have worked for six years, despite the challenges of the harsh Martian landscape.

The Hubble Telescope: Hubble has recently seen a cluster of new, young galaxies. It’s also seen to the edge of the universe, discovered new stars, galaxies, and even more.

Deep Impact: NASA sent a probe into space with the goal of hitting and analyzing a comet. It needs to be noted that the comet was traveling at 23,000 mph, the comet was only 9 miles by 2 miles large. This is like hitting a fly with a push pin. Although Buffy the vampire slayer was able to do this, for the rest of the world, it’s fairly difficult.

Partner this with the success of the International Space Station, the shuttle missions, and other space missions, and the fact that NASA has one of the smallest budgets in our government, and NASA’s track record becomes nothing short of legendary.

The reason I’ve decided to write about NASA on a decidedly environmental blog, is to point out how well NASA tackles hard concepts. Forty years ago, man had never been in space, never been to the moon, had never seen any planet up close beyond Earth. And now, we’ve probed the edges of our solar system, seen the farthest reaches of our universe, and we’re learning more about our own planet’s history everyday.

We’re facing difficult tasks right now. Between where we are and where we need to be environmentally, there is a large gulf technologically. Yet prior to the Mercury and Apollo programs, the best theory on space travel involved a large gun, thanks to Jules Verne. And now we’ve got a permanent space station, satellites, the space shuttle, and more. Look at how far we’ve come in so short a time.

Beyond that, if we want to deliver solutions to the global community of nay-sayers and deniers, our solutions need to be so overwhelmingly high quality, that they consistently outperform and out pace expectations.

The question at NASA when faced with a difficult task is this:

What do we need to do?

For us, the passionate few not caught in politics, who feel that a clean economy and environmental sustainability is the right way for the world to go:

The question now is simply

what do we need to do?

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December 28, 2009

Nature as Beauty

Sometimes it’s important to remember what one is fighting for. It’s easy to get caught up in the struggle, to focus on the goal and forget about why.

For myself, I remember camping. Tromping through the woods, building make shift dams, getting wet, muddy and disgusting, sailing boats in the rain, splashing through puddles. Climbing trees, cliffs, mountains, and generally misbehaving in the woods.

When I was eleven, my parents, my aunt and uncle, and my cousins all took a trip to the Great Smokey Mountains. We hiked a portion of the AT and stayed out overnight. My day consisted of crossing rivers barefooted and hiking up and down. That night, I woke up in time to watch, what my eleven year old mind thought, was the largest black bear in existence snuffle through our campsite looking for food. Being twelve feet from a Guinness Record holding black bear is quite an experience for an eleven year old.

As I’ve grown up, I have come to see that those experiences are on going, and have started to occur much closer to home. Frost shining in the light of dawn, flowers blooming in the afternoon, fireflies floating in the evenings. I always know it’s Summer when I hear the cicadas on blazing hot afternoons in August. These are magical moments, almost spiritual in that; I am struck by the wonder and beauty of the world around me.

And it is my profound belief that humanity’s march of progress can work within the bounds of natural beauty without destroying it.

If you will permit me, these are some photographs of the world around me that struck me as beautiful. And today remind me of what I am fighting for.

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December 15, 2009

Do Something

Fareed Zakaria weighs in with his two cents about Global Warming. Click Here

For further viewing pleasure: This is a teacher, who presents an argument neither for nor against global warming, but shifts the  discussion to action or inaction.

This is where the debate should really be. Do we act or do we not act?

If we act

  • we risk a possible global depression
  • cleaner air, water
  • more efficient power usage and production, vehicles
  • better living conditions for the developing world
  • slowing or stopping of species extinction and habitat destruction

If we don’t act

  • we risk the meltdown of civilization as we know it

Jared Diamond cites environmental issues as a leading cause of civilization collapse in his book “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed” (aptly named).

  • Widespread extinction
  • habitat destruction
  • seas rising, storms, hurricanes, smog, etc
  • Biblical end of the world type events
  • Rising living costs associated with fuel, power productions
  • Rising pollution

Which of the two has a better outcome? We can survive a depression and be the better for it; our great grandparents did.

Can we survive the meltdown of society? Despite what movies and videogames would suggest, this isn’t a pleasant time. Read survivors accounts and see how people devolve when faced with the loss of civilization (think Fall of Rome, after the Mongols swept through Europe, The Donner Party or any other stranded settler group). Compare watching Mad Max, to actually living it. Odds are, we’d end up being “Extra no 3″ the one that gets raped, killed and eaten.

Of course the estimated cost is only 1% of the GDP. To make that number more real and tangible, think of it this way: One cent of every dollar you spend can change the world. The change that you have in your pocket at the end of the day is enough money to stop the possibility of global climate change.

Check it For Yourself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization#The_fall_of_civilizations

http://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Societies-Choose-Fail-Succeed/dp/0143036556/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260899987&sr=8-1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_anaVcCXg

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/fareed.zakaria.gps/

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