Journey of Harmony

Torch Carbon Foot Print
I discussed yesterday about the protests surrounding the Olympic torch and its relay around the world. Which got me thinking about the torch itself, who designed it, whats it made of, and how does it get from country to country? And, courtesy of GreenDaily, what is the environmental impact this torch relay? Well your answers and mine, are about to be had!

Lenovo, yes the computer company, designed the torch for the 2008 games, while the flame element was designed by the Chinese aerospace industries. It is cast out of aluminum, stands 28.35 inches tall (72 cm) and weighs slightly more than two pounds (985 kg). Traditional Chinese artistry adorns the torch, which resembles traditional scrolls . The flame element is able to stay lit in winds of up to ~40 mph (65 kph) and in rains of approximately two inches an hour (50 mm/hour). The 'green' side of the torch is that the materials are recyclable and the propane fuel meets environmental requirements. Makes for a beautiful torch, but what about environmental beauty?

The torch relay is the longest in history, with the IOC stating that the journey will span nearly 85,000 miles. The flame, when not being carried by relay members or being doused by fire-extinguisher wielding protesters, travels on a custom Airbus A330, the Journey of Harmony, complete with custom paint job. The A330, according to Wired, the A330 burns through 5.3 gallons of fuel PER mile. Talk about crappy mpg! Earthlab calculates that for the entire trip, the A330 will use ~462,000 gallons of jet fuel, netting around 5,500 TONS of CO2.

If you add this, plus the huge investments of energy and raw materials to build the new Olympic facilities, you wonder if the Olympics are really worth it from an environmental standpoint? Why are we awarding countries that do not have facilities prior to the games? Why do knew ones have to be built? Why, like in Atlanta in 1996, do the facilities get torn down after the games? There are already several world class facilities already available, why not award only those cities to chance to host the games? Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, I think the IOC could use a lesson in the basic three. I'm still excited for the games...119 Days!

Hangin High with Oil

Hanging Climate Change out to DRY!
This topic has been swirling around my mind like my socks on Sunday wash day. I first picked up this topic a couple of months back with a report in the NYTimes about a guy who was fighting against neighborhood planning commissions over the right to hang up laundry in ones back yard. Finally, with the help of TreeHugger, I have the article in which to formulate my thoughts!

One of my most vivid childhood memories is that of helping my mom hang up the laundry on the clothes line in the back yard. Five lines were strung between two T poles at either end of the yard and nearly our entire weeks worth of wash could fit on the line at the same time. I can still smell the clothes line smell of the fresh air that dried the clothes. I will admit that I HATED having my jeans dried on the line, but that is but a small inconvenience. The only items that were dried were the personal items (socks and underwear) or when the temperature was to crappy in which to utilize the line.

Electric clothes dryers using between 5-10% of residential electricity each year and the benefits of hanging clothes outside clearly outweigh the negatives. First and foremost, the weather for nearly all of the US is ideal for hanging clothes whether in the summer or in winter. There are locations in which the temperature is below freezing for much of the winter and its nearly impossible to hang clothes outside during this time. But if you hang clothes indoor during the winter, it can act as a humidifier for the dry air in the home. Plus, clothes last longer, sunlight is a natural disinfectant, and the smell is something that no chemical can beat! Best of all...its FREE, minus the small purchase of a piece of rope, or a drying rack for the indoors!

I am flabbergasted to find that many community organizations ban the presence of a clotheslines from a persons private property. It is hard to believe that anyone would be opposed to something that is so environmentally friendly and easy to do. It screams comfy down home American neighborhood, yet, many developments ban such lines and fine homeowners if they are found to have a clothes line. I think, with the current downturn in the economy, that these communities would be more willing to allow clotheslines, they are defiantly more appealing than row after row of For Sale signs that dot the landscape now.

High Oil
I really should just stop writing about high oil prices, since everyone else seems to be writing about it now as well. So, unless oil tops $110 (US) or is something interesting that I feel I should pass along, oil is officially dead in this blog. I am tired of the media feeding the speculation, which has driven prices higher. In a way, I am for higher prices for fuel, as I am ashamed at how wasteful our society has become on the cheap fuel that we have become addicted to. But when the fundamentals of supply and demand no longer dictate the price of a particular item, I just don't buy it. This weeks EIA report shows that US stocks of oil rose for the eighth straight week and gasoline inventories are at least 8% higher than the running 5 year average. This doesn't have as big of an impact on gas prices as one would hope as oil is running $40 (US) higher than a year ago and the drastic increase in the price of oil is just now really starting to be pushed onto the consumer. Diesel fuel is at an all time high and gas prices will soon follow suit. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of months. We, can for the sake of our pocketbooks, hope that the Fed doesn't decide to lower interest rates any more and investors pull profits and oil prices recede some. But don't hold your breath on that, it is oil by the way, and no matter how high it goes, we're all still sucking it down like a fine bottle of whine!
Cheers

Throwing Caution to the Wind

Winds of Change

Today is all about wind. My home town is under a sever wind warning, so I decided to dedicate this day to the wind. Plus, its really kind of slow today, so I figured a little bit on renewable energy would be good

Wind farms are one of those few things made by man that is pleasant (this is my opinion) to look at. The rhythm at which the huge blades turn is peaceful,powerful, yet tranquil. I know many proponents despise wind farms for their aesthetic destroying potential (Cape Cod for example), but it sure beats having a coal power plant in your back yard.

Texas is now the nations leading producer of wind derived power. They have the current capacity to generate roughly three percent of their total energy needs from wind. The sparse population and "lax" regulations allow for major investments in wind technology, spurring the boom of wind projects in Texas. Many attribute it to the early oil booms of years gone by, and for good reason too. The Great Plains, stretching from Texas to North Dakota are, as some people call it, the Saudi Arabia of wind. The problem with wind power, however, is the sporadic nature of which it blows. New technology being developed tries to convert the energy into some sort of "storable" mechanical energy for use when the wind does not blow.

The most interesting of these is the use of wind power to transfer water from a series of reservoirs with water and when the water does not blow, or energy demand exceeds capacity, the water in the reservoirs is released, causing a hydroelectric generator to turn. These systems would use gravity as the transfer mechanism of the mechanical energy from the power derived from the wind. These are usually closed systems, with the water flowing to transfer catchments to be pumped back to the storage reservoirs when the wind blows, completing the cycle. I am all for turbine technology, so bring on the windmills!

Watch out Below

The only caveat about wind power is demonstrated in this video, which I snagged from Green Daily. Wind turbines have brakes to slow the blades, in the windiest of conditions, to their optimal operating RPM's. This particular units brake failed which was not a great thing during a good windy storm. The unit was particularly small, most of the components were made of fiberglass, but it does make you think twice about putting one up! Eh...what the heck, it makes for a great story, put one up in my backyard now please!

Cheers

If the Price is right...

Blingin Plates
There was a song, I believe by Nelly awhile back that had the line in the chorus "What does it take to be #1?..." In the United Arab Emirates it takes approximately $14.3 Million (US). This is what an individual paid for the license plate with the single digit "1" in a recent action in the UAE. The explosion of the car culture in the the booming cities along the Persian Gulf has made obtaining a "vanity plate" of some significance an important task among some of the richest sheiks in the land. The normal UAE plate has 5 random characters on the plate, and as the number of characters drop, the "value" of the plate increases. Special plates with repeating digits such as 11 or 22 are also highly prized.

According to GT Spirtit, (mentioned to me by mewalt), the individual that purchased the 1 plate also purchased 100, 5, and 7, making it one, if not the, most expensive license plate collection in the world. But remember, all of this money goes to charity. In this case, it goes to a charity set up for individuals hit by motor vehicles...

Jamaica River Dying
It is humbling day by day when you look at all of the news that comes out about the impacts humans have had on the natural environment. We lose not only the biodiversity and inherent beauty of nature, but more and more we lose a cultural bound that revolved around those certain species. Many use the example of indigenous tribes in the arctic that depend on seals and whales for sources of calories and the social and cultural implications. But its not the only place in which these impacts can be felt.

The locals in the Rio Grande Valley in Jamaica have been harvesting and preparing local river shrimp (janga) for hundreds of years. The old "primitive" means of gathering the shrimp are forgone for a simpler and "easier" method of using poisons or dynamite. It demonstrates the power of money when individuals will dump known toxins into the ecosystem to make a quick buck. Luckily though, many locals are starting to protest such practices and the government has made it a crime to perform these acts.

The total impact of the toxins is unknown, but many say that there has been adverse affects on the local ecosystem, in particular the janga. The quote that drives home what I want people to think about is “To think that children some generations down the road will have no idea what a janga or a crayfish looks like. ...” How very true; how many other species around the world are sharing this fate?

Caribs
Some good news to pass along on Dominica and their newest partner Venezuela. The Carib tribe, the indigenous people of the Caribbean occupy a portion of land on Dominica northeast side. The Caribs live below the standard of living of most people on the island due to segregation. They have been fighting for equal treatment and have made some gains recently.

Venezuela has pleged to provide $4.5 Million (US) to Dominica to help build homes and school for the Carib people. I have been critical of the Chavez administration and still much opposed to it, but I applaud (if it comes to fruition) the administration for pledging to support the tribe and I hope that, unlike many times in the past, many new homes and a wonderful school is built!

$100 Oil
Oil briefly popped back over a $100 today for the first time since early January. I'll post more on this tomorrow! Here we go again
Cheers!

Lego of my Bloomberg

Bloomberg Bites Back
Mayor Michael Bloomberg of NYC this week decided that he was not going to be environmentally friendly. The City of New York passed this week, a bill that would require the manufactures of electronics to offer recycling for the goods that they sold within the city. The law would proactively trying to solve the growing problem of e-waste going into our landfills. Now I agree with Bloomberg that the logistics of the passed law still need to be ironed out, but threatening to not enforce the law is ludicrous and a huge burden on everyone. That includes Mother Nature

E-waste is going to be a growing problem and it will get exacerbated during this coming year because of the analog-to-digital switch for TV broadcasting. Bloomberg should be in favor of this program because New York City exports nearly all its trash to nearby states, at a significant cost to the city, the consumer, and the environment. E-waste is expensive to haul, crowds already shrinking landfill space, and had huge environmental costs associated with it. Come on Bloomberg, be proactive, put your dismal environmental record behind you and get this law passed.

Lego Encourages Recycling
One of my favorite toys growing up was Lego's. Those wonderful square blocks that you could make into just about anything! But one of the biggest problems I had with creating my mega Lego-villes was the incredible amount of trash my Lego people created. My Lego-villes were definitely modern America Suburbia as they threw away EVERYTHING. Most of the time it was dumped in Lego Lake. But now, my Lego-villes will be clean, because Lego has just released the Lego Recycling and Trash truck. Wahoo! The kit comes with its very own Sans Man as well, so there is no need to take Luke Skywalker away from fighting the Evil Empire to take out the trash.

'Eclipse' of a Weekend
This weekend was one of those weekends in which I just kicked it into high gear and got a lot accomplished. Don't forget that there will be a full lunar eclipse this Wednesday! For those of you in the Americas, we will be treated (depending on the weather) a lovely show starting around 9 P.M. cst. with full eclipse coming at 9:26 P.M. cst.
So what is it that I did this weekend? Well I'm glad you asked
1.) Ran 7 miles
2.) Emailed family and friends
3.) Went to the Auto parts store, bought oil filter, 5 quarts of oil, fuel filter, and fuel additive
4.) Changed my oil and fuel filter, and then disposed of my oil at Autozone...for free!
5.) Took M&K's dogs Snuggles and Chiquita to the park
6.) Went grocery shopping (Albertsons/WholeFoods)
7.) Hair Cut
8.) Cleaned the Apartment
9.) Did dishes
10.) Recycling drop-off!!!
11.) Did Laundry!
All in all a great weekend and am jacked for the coming week. It was just a good weekend and I hope you had a great one as well.
Cheers!

Guzzlin the Beef!

I will admit it, up front and honest...I like steaks. Now vegetarians will scream and moan and I hear you, but nothing is better than a nice medium rare slice of beef. But like almost every other commodity on this earth, consumption and demand for beef is starting to climb. In their weekly round up the New York Times looked at the high consumption of meat within the U.S. (Seriously, what commodity do we not consume the most of in this world? Rice?) and the impacts that industrial meat production has on the land, air, and the cows themselves.

The average American consumes half a pound of meat daily, which is twice the world average. We enjoy a cheap and plentiful source of protein that we all tend to take for granted. We ignore the mass amounts of energy inputs it takes to produce this product. This has fueled and industrialization of the process and it is these huge industrial operations that are proliferating around the world that serve the sole purpose of fattening the animals as fast as possible. This requires huge inputs of energy: grain production (most grain production in the US goes to livestock feed), antibiotics, processing, shipping, etc, and create environmental nightmares (think 100,000 cows crapping everywhere everyday) such as the fact that possibly 1/5 of all greenhouse gas emissions comes from livestock production (including more than just cows, but still). Unfortunately these confinements that help speed up the production of meat (and lets us enjoy our $0.99 hamburgers from Wendy's) make the cows very sick.

Cows are ruminant's and their stomachs are made to digest grasses, not grains. They can eat some grains no problem, but a diet based primarily on corn makes the digestive system of cows very sick, meaning they need lots of antibiotics. This can lead to drug resistant forms of certain bacteria that can be transferred to humans. The close confined pens in which the cows are pent up in also can lead to rapid spread of other terrible diseases that can also affect the food chain...think Mad Cow Disease.

It makes me laugh when I hear or read the phrase "Corn fed Beef!" making it sound like its the best thing since sliced bread, when really it is telling that your meat came from an unhealthy animal. Clearly we can all cut back on our crazy obsession for all things meat. It, like many other sustainable steps we can all take, does not mean you can NEVER have a steak, hamburger or ribs. But every night? Its just something to think about and if you are like me, we could all use a little less meat and a couple extra helpings of veggies and fruits. But man does that steak taste good...pass the A.1 please

Finally a little bit of good citizenry that I just had to put in. Usually if you loose a high end tech toy you can pretty much kiss that tech investment good bye. There have been to many instances where people just snag the lost Ipod or camera and it becomes their new little toy. Finders Keepers is the mantra. Luckily for some there are still people around like Brian Ascher. Brian's fiance found a camera in the backseat of a taxi cab in NYC and he proceeded to do detective work to try and reunite the camera with its former owner. Looking through all the photos for clues he was eventually able to piece together the story of who the person was and eventually get the camera back to its rightful owner. If only more people were like Mr. Ascher! Cheers!

Cooking up a good ole Friday

Work is still chugging along and today was no different. Pinnacle of the day was when I went to go ask a gentleman a question that should have taken all but 5 minutes ended up turning into a two hour trip into three different offices. Made the day go really fast and the best part...payday!

On a good note to end the week there is a group called Envirofit International that is researching and building alternative cooking stoves for impoverished nations. Half of the worlds populations still cooks with traditional solid fuels (charcoal, wood, coal) with usually an open pit. These pits are usually within the dwelling causing the air inside the dwelling to be highly polluted and horrible for the health of those that live within that dwelling. Women are at high risk for health problems as they are the ones tending the cooking and chores within the dwelling.
The group hopes to provide a new more efficient and healthy stove in which to cook on. I give the group so much credit for doing case studies with these women to see what they would prefer to use, down to the color of the stove. I hope that this has a huge impact on the health and the lives of these people. More grassroots improvements like these can seem small but make huge strides!

Geaux Tigers and China Tuesday

Congrats to the LSU Tigers for kicking the crap out of the OSU Buckeyes! To bad your colors are purple and yellow...

Nothing of note really happened, so this is just a post of a good series of articles on China. The country is definitely on my list of places to see before I die, but probably near the end of my life. My lungs are too precious currently to head over there and tour the country (kidding). But this series looks at several aspects of Chinese life and the affects of the unprecedented economic boom on the society.


China in my opinion will be the new super power within a decade. The amount of influence around the world is crazy. During my stay on Dominica (which was life changing) the influence of the Chinese was crazy. Basically China came to Dominica and said that if Dominica switched their allegiance from Taiwan to China, China would build a new international quality cricket pitch on the island. Estimated at $17 million US, this is some gift. I have nothing against gifts, but what was disappointing with this was that the Chinese used very little (if any) locals in the construction of this facility. This is also occurring in much of the Caribbean and Africa. What do they have on the US? Simply (though its much more complicated) in my opinion, they provide on the promises. Though the environment or the people may suffer, the Chinese keep their word. Maybe the US should take note....

Below is a picture of the stadium during construction when I was there in June of 2006. I was rapidly ushered away by Chinese workers after taking this picture. The link above has photos of the completed complex.

Monday..alarms, commutes and water bottles

Its so hard to get up on Mondays sometimes. The New York Times had some great articles that I found today and I felt it would be fun to pass them along. The first looked at the natural health care product company Burt's Bees, maker of an amazing lip balm. Typical article discussing the of how Burt's Bees got its start, its history, and how it got its name were fascinating. What struck me the most was that the company is now a subsidiary of Clorox, a company that does not necessarily ooze environmental health. Roxanne Quimby, the former owner, sold her stakes in the company to spend portions of her time to preserving large tracks of land, returning them to their "pristine" condition. I wonder why money prevailed in this instance. I feel that Quimby still could have preserved her swaths of land, by no means a bad thing, and still kept Burt's Bees out of Clorox's clutches. If nothing else the PR around the buying and preservation of land would have been amazing. Think if Burt's could have struck a deal with say Ducks Unlimited and worked to preserve even more areas for preservation. This means that Burt's could be the official lip balm of duck hunts everywhere...ha.
Another post (though a couple of days old) on the NYTimes was a conundrum of whether or not to reuse plastic water bottles after use. This country is already addicted to many things and bottled water is just another item on the list. To the tune of billions a year we consume the water and toss the bottle. Most of the time this water is just city tap water. It is a better alternative to say pop, but most of us have access to clean water right from the tap. Even more disturbing is in the building in which I work. There are several water fountains (the old fashioned kind) stationed throughout the building. But instead nearly everybody takes a single use cup, gets a swig from the water cooler and throws the cup away...really is a waste. Not only in the form of the cup, but also in the energy used to capture, bottle and transport the water to the office.
Some people, like myself, rinse and reuse the bottles over and over again. I have since changed this habit once I started reading more and more literature about chemicals from the bottles leaching into the liquid as the bottle ages. The NYTimes piece was humorously written about the very same problem I faced. At home, I no longer use plastic bottles to store my water in for when I am at home (I do keep a few bottles for when I'm on the run and in the car) but have since switched to glass jugs like those used at some "posh" restaurants.
Nalgene's are probably a better alternative to the "single use" type bottles but according to some research these may also leach chemicals and have since been banned in some Canadian sporting goods/outdoor outfitter stores. If you're really concerned, metal bottles are available and don't pose the risk as the plastic.
But for me reducing the ridiculous amount of plastic containers we use in a given day. Whether its glass, Nalgene, or metal, if you are reusing your sturdy bottles to limit the amount of waste your produce I think the risk of a little chemical in the body is worth it. What do you think?

Saturday Car Wash

Washed the car today for the first time I think since my car has been down in the 'Rouge.' It took up a better part of my day but she cleaned up pretty nice. I was out doing some photos and decided to do a little profile shot of her down in the south. Up next to a Louisiana Levee seemed fitting I thought.

I also cleaned the apartment because I was bored and needed some dishes for dinner.

I was searching around on blogspot today and found a good environmental blog with one of those titles that would make a great book. Come to find out its part of a title of a family living book. Nonetheless check it out, its got interesting articles (mostly mainstream) but are all interesting. Interesting posts and nice links to other good blogs.


I feel the need to find something to commemorate such a momentous week that we just finished up. OIL topped $100 a barrel for the first time ever on the Merc. So I was looking around earlier in the week and stumbled upon this site that was selling a commemorative barrel necklace to document the occasion, perhaps some "black bling" is in your future? Better hurry up, only 100 were made. Its an interesting design, but more disturbing than this "black bling" is that 1 person performed a trade of above $100, creating ripples across the market. It only cost him $600 to become the first to trade over $100, scary...