Energy Efficient Living including the "Smooth Pedal" Fuel Efficiency Strategy, Methodology, and Game This approach is based in preventative maintenance and knowing where and how to put your metal to the pedal (instead of the other way around) Related Resources/Links (this page) |
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For years I've been using A FUEL EFFICIENCY STRATEGY which can create a fun and self-challenging game out of traffic - while actually making it safer for all - and we're talking about what would be bumper to bumper, temperment challenging, rush-hour traffic. This is not "Hypermiling" - does not include inappropriate slow driving.
 But if you drive an automatic (especially w/o a color-coded tach) then, IMHO, you're either not in touch with the road, or you've got road-feel skills I can only imagine.
And there's the idea about replacing most stop signs with yield signs - to drastically cut energy use (via reduced deceleration and acceleration) and brake wear, as well as to increase defensive driving levels due to the resulting increased caution at intersections (I was actually a defensive driving instructor in the service). Of course, if you're going to do it legally, that one requires some grassroots action at city hall. | |||||||
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"Global Warming" ??? Occassionally, in the past few months, I've facebook chatted with some people who I thought were mistyping a statement, implying that the Global Warming Crisis wasn't real (!). But in each case, I realized, they were getting their information from the same realm of sources. The same realm that also seem to generate the more prolific of conspiracy theory writers. Recently drawing support from the emotionally excitables and the over-the-top "too much government" folks. The main element I see in all of their theories is the message "You can't do anything about this - except get off on retelling/forwarding the theory to other people." I know, most of us would like not to take them seriously, give attention to the pestering brat, etc. But the strategies employed by Karl Rove and the Neo-Cons not that long ago should warn us off that deadly response; and besides, "One cannot not communicate". [March/April 2010]
The Home as an Efficient Vehicle for Recycling: Before I put some links, I just want to remind you that your imagination is one of the greatest tools, that "object permanence" doesn't need to be. Permanent, that is. Because if we are attached to seeing things in only the standard defined way, relative to it's "normal" usage or purpose, then we may be limiting our use of a thing. Re-Use is the most efficient means of recycling -- cost-wise, energy-wise, time-wise, etcetera-wise -- provided that the re-use doesn't cause danger to someone's health. If "that would be tacky" is your best excuse for not re-using something, then maybe you could employ your artistic potential, or trade your (other) skills for the craftsmanship required to give the object it's retainability or re-usability. If Home Remodeling is not a tacky trade, then "object redesigner" or "adaptation technician" might also become official employment nomanclature some day. Ok, we can just call them artists if you want <grin>. But given our apparent economic directions, well, we may not be laughing at that one very long [noted 11'08]. Besides, if you don't mind them stealing (or inefficiently recycling) YOUR job some day, there's always Walmart - for getting BRAND spanking new plasticware and state of the art "knic knaks" - well, at least in every state of the nation (by the thousands). <OUCH> How many cassette tapes do you have? Are you aware that it doesn't take a great deal of work to repair and recondition them (at least until they suffer a certain amount of wear, which amount is actually quite far beyond most people's imaginings)? OK, they don't have the quality that more recent technology does. But maybe you still have cassettes. Or maybe you still have a cassette player. Or you have one or both and do not have one of the more recent sound devices. Maybe all you need is readily and freely or cheaply available, including tips for reconditioning the cassettes (which you can get from me, by the way). If you read this before I've put those tips into writing, just email me or call me (see author info section). Otherwise the cassettes are not terribly recycleable (as far as I know), simply because... why? Right, because Re-Use is the most efficient way to recycle. Signs of the times, or "Time Of The Signs"? About how OUR home -and it's inhabitants- have not been so efficient: Read "Earth 'Entering New Age of Geological Time' " at CommonDreams.org - "Humans have wrought such vast and unprecedented changes on the planet that we may be ushering in a new period of geological history. ... It is feared that the damage mankind has inflicted will lead to the 6th largest mass extinction in Earth's history w/thousands of plants & animals being wiped out. The new epoch, called the Anthropocene - meaning new man - would be the 1st period of geological time shaped by action of a single species. Our species itself may be wiped out, ironically, by our own behavioral habits." As Brian Willson comments at facebook " 'HOMO ESTUPIDO' Have you seen the document, 'Age of Stupid'?" My question: "If we saw the sign for denial would we recognize it?" [3/27/10]
Long Term (Energy-Related and Other) Problem Solving: We've been developing computers that are several trillion times faster than before, and are getting faster. Are we ready for faster answers? That is... Haven't so many of our current conundrums resulted from way too fast answers to way too wrong questions - even with slow computers ? The point here is that of the importance of the question when it comes to getting the solutions we truly need. You might find this interesting: "The Use Of Questions In Effective Affirmation Therapy" - Theory and Examples for Practical Application - developing Pragmatic use of "the right question" So... Before we can achieve Planetary Sustainability, we have to attain 'Citizenry Sustainability.' A military "solution" or "revolution" (quoted because what would be so revolutionary about that?) - large enough to make any difference - will also reap more pain, confusion, and denial. More than we can heal then regain sufficient capacity for planetary healing - before Global Warming takes the rest of us. We're going to have to outsmart that unevolved part of us - and those who represent it politically. That means, IMO, we need to vote with our our dollar (Coop America makes the "for Dummies" book on that one, and on many other sustainable oriented finance solutions), and with our pen or keyboard, and maybe with our feet - as well as with the ballot. |
of PAGE More Ideas Found (that we might help get off the ground):
 Reactivation Of The US Civilian Conservation Corps) -cp, 11/10/09]
A GREAT PETITION TO SIGN ...by those who know we don't have much time to turn this our mothership Earth around: because where we can boost the economy, build community, AND make great gains for the environment - like with the Reactivation, refunding, and revamping of the USCCC - well, it only makes good sense to get this under way - ASAP! ... Thank you for your consideration! * http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/national-petition-for-the-reactivation-of-the-us-civilian-conservation-corps * Home Org. Site: http://www.wecantakeit.org/ Question: How much of the WATER SHORTAGE can be replaced by rainwater conservation? -cp, 3/20/09] For rainwater storage
I found the Oasis Rainwater Harvesters site (Waste Tech Environmental Ltd. of Yorkshire, UK) to have a more than representative set of different types and apparently useful info for each type -apparently good pics and very good general info, including FAQ's on Rainwater Harvesters. Not having "shopped" the subject I'll leave it to you to find the best or least expensive, most local, etc. The "FullHouse" systems page is here. Other pages there cover Rainwater Tanks and water buttsGrants, 'INTERFLUSH' cistern kits, SUDS - Sustainable Drainage Systems, "RainBrain" for schools, Units for Developers, Sustainable Homes, etc. Pretty exciting, eh?: Elsewhere there's a page with a "Simple collection system you can build":
"All you need is a couple of plastic containers (for example, new rubbish or similar type containers will work); some pvc tubing; some pvc valves, pvc cement, a few boards to build some stands; some downspout fittings; a razor knife or jig-saw; and a few other items..." Scientific Assistance For Watersheds
"A [watershed] is an area that [captures and accumulates rainwater] and channels the resultant surface water and groundwater into an ocean, sea, or bay. The drainage system of a watershed begins with a spring or a single water channel and progressively increases in size and complexity as the drainage system flows downstream. It is a dynamic system, and the integrity of the system is essential to the quality of life of its inhabitants. [The Consortium for Scientific Assistance to Watersheds (C-SAW at USGS)] is a team of scientists and service providers available to provide free technical assistance to your watershed/conservation group"
Keywords for Water Resources/Conservation Research - "Rainwater" often does not bring good results from the larger world/Govt. management or research organizations. Suggestion: also try the following in combo with "rainwater conservation", etc: precipitation, groundwater recharge, self-supplied or self-supplied domestic water withdrawals; Ground-water withdrawals; Watershed, evapotranspiration, transpiration, Aridity; Saline, Thermoelectric Power & Saline;
Resources for Resources:
E. F. Schumacher Society Links - in short, some of the most essential core resources on sustainability, including Microcredit, Educational Programs, Magazines & Newsletters, Films & Videos, Land Reform, Worker/Ownership Cooperatives Bioneers - Collective Heritage Institute: An organization of some of the most intelligent and long-time dedicated people on the planet (IMHO), developing and implementing "sustainable" solutions throughout the world, including much for rebuilding the ECONOMY on both micro and macro levels. Some great examples are presented via www.bioneers.org/conference - "Solutions in nature consisitently surpass our concept of what is possible." Also see the Collective Heritage Institute of Santa Fe, NM. Sample articles, include "The Hidden Connection: A Science for Sustainable Living" by Fritjof Capra.
Global Stewards Links Page Include * Greasecar.com, * Veggie Van * Biofuels of Marin * Retail Fueling Stations in U.S. - biodiesel in the form of used cooking oil * How to make your own biodiesel from new vegetable oil * Biodiesel (Alternative Fuels Data Center) * National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium * U.S. National Biodiesel Board * Biodiesel (U.S. Department of Energy) * Biodiesel Association of Australia * Biodiesel Industries * Biodiesel Research (University of Idaho) GREEN America .Org, Economic Action for a Just Planet(Pre Jan 2009 is/was "Coop America") many great resources, lots of information available; ie: "Green Living Web Resources," "Five Things You Should Always Buy Green," "Ten Fair Trade Products to Look for," "Eight Body Care Toxins to Avoid," "10 Things You Should Never Buy Again," etc [More Related Below] Perspectives:
*Hope for a Heated Planet - How Americans Are Fighting Global Warming and Building a Better Future*
A critically acclaimed book by Bob Musil, Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility from 1992 - 2006: Rejecting cries of gloom and doom, Hope for a Heated Planet shows how the fight against global warming can be won by the grassroots efforts of individuals. The future depends, Musil insists, on what changes ordinary citizens make. Through personal choices and political engagement, he shows how readers can cut carbon emissions and create green communities where they live. With practical and realistic solutions, Hope for a Heated Planet inspires readers to be accountable and enables them to usher in an age of sustainability for future generations. "Robert Musil has had a bird’s eye view of the climate debate almost from its inception, and he has paid careful attention to both the problem and the solutions. This is a masterfully comprehensive account of both where we are and we sure better go." —Bill McKibben, author of *Deep Economy* "Hope for a Heated Planet offers a clear-eyed assessment of the unprecedented challenge that climate change presents for today’s Americans. Musil is a hardheaded yet hopeful Washington insider who is well-positioned to make the case that with a new generation of clean energy—and the energy of citizens across America—there is hope, indeed, for our heated planet." —Chris Flavin, president, Worldwatch Institute *The Great Turning - From Empire to Earth Community* by David Korten Summarized in YES Magazine. Find more at PCDForum Bulletin #5. Two more of his books include "When corporations rule the World" and "Post Corporate World" - insightful and important when contemplating responding to current challenges and the healing of the planet. You might also enjoy the transcript of Korten's keynote address at the 2002 EARTH CHARTER COMMUNITY SUMMIT. Timely articles include "What to Do Now That the War Has Started." A related sites include www.davidkorten.org and The Fourth Freedom .Org/. Co-Globalizing Earth - "gaia's children birthing a future of partnering human kinship with all life." (A great many links to perceptions on the topic, organized, most excellent quotes to break up the exhaustive bibliographic-link feel) "There Are Many Worlds . . . of being and awareness" - Contrary to what those of us who were raised in Industrial Culture have been conditioned to believe, there are many worlds, actual and accessible, other than the incoherent, fragmented, and divided one continuously displayed in the majority of print and electronic media forms. It is expanding and life-affirming to one's own existence, and all one touches and relates to, to be congnizant of more of these. (Various perceptions on the topic, and/or links to same) Maude Barlow, Blue Planet Project, Water, The Economy, & More
Maude Barlow is the head of the Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest public advocacy organization, founder of the Blue Planet Project, author of the new book *Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water*. See transcript of Maude Barlow interview, "Blue Covenant: Maude Barlow On The Global Movement For Water Justice". Barlow's fundamental theme is that "The hydrologic cycle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrologic_cycle) has been dramatically and deeply affected by our abuse and displacement of water, and we have to stop." On Oct. 21, 2008 Canadian water activist Maude Barlow was named "senior adviser to the United Nations on water issues -- a new position created by General Assembly president Miguel d'Escoto, who raised the subject of water as a human right in his first U.N. speech in September," Also see about UFPPC's discussion group, Digging Deeper, on the book, *Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water* by Maude Barlow and Tony Clark (New Press, 2002). STATS ON THE ECONOMY, THE RICH/POOR DIVIDE: Maude Barlow is also the author of the new book 'The World Has Divided into Rich and Poor as at No Time in History' (links to article at Common Ground): MAUDE BARLOW: On the eve of this G-20 gathering: "Let’s look at a few facts. Fact, the world has divided into rich and poor as at no time in our history. The richest 2% own more than half the household wealth in the world. The richest 10% hold 85% of total global assets and the bottom half of humanity owns less than 1% of the wealth in the world. The three richest men in the world have more money than the poorest 48 countries. Fact, while those responsible for the 2008 global financial crisis were bailed out and even rewarded by the G-20 government’s gathering here, the International Labor Organization tells us that in 2009, 34 million people were added to the global unemployed, swelling those ranks to 239 million, the highest ever recorded. Another 200 million are at risk in precarious jobs and the World Bank tells us that at the end of 2010, another 64 million will have lost their jobs. By 2030, more than half the population of the megacities of the Global South will be slumdwellers with no access to education, health care, water, or sanitation. Fact, global climate change is rapidly advancing, claiming at least 300,000 lives and $125 billion in damages every year. Called the silent crisis, climate change is melting glaciers, eroding soil, causing freak and increasingly wild storms, displacing untold millions from rural communities to live in desperate poverty in peri-urban centers. Almost every victim lives in the Global South in communities not responsible for greenhouse gas emissions and not represented here at the summit. The atmosphere has already warmed up a full degree in the last several decades and is on course to..." [excerpt from Common Ground article] Also Related at this site: A collection of Pro-Active Resources for individually taking charge of our economic health towards a sustainable planet are listed at in the section for Responsible Shopping & Investment, Corporate Reform, & Economic Fairness Issues at Christopher's Political Reference Page. The Economics of War & Peace - Part III - Considerations, Innovations, Accountability, Solutions, Resources Ratical.Org - Rat Haus Reality Gallery - "living life passionately - birthright of all life" (This is where I got the above Co-Globalizing Earth & Many Worlds Links) The Alliance for a Caring Economy (ACE)
The newest (2007) of initiatives from Riane Eisler and The Center for Partnership Studies, ACE is a network to develop the foundations for a caring partnership economics is being formed with representatives from government, business, civil society, and academic sectors. Economic rules, measures, and policies that recognize the real value of the essential work of caring for children and the elderly, keeping our families healthy, and maintaining a clean and healthy environment, are foundational to the construction of an economics that can meet the challenges we face. ...will lead to the higher valuing of caring and caretaking in our homes, schools, and workplaces, as well as to the more caring economic and social policies needed to move toward a more equitable, sustainable, and prosperous world. ACE will bring together representatives from academia, government, business, and civil society to ...Collect information on what is already happening to give economic value to caregiving, such as paid parental leave and economic measurements that, unlike GDP, take into account the essential economic contribution of caregiving in both the formal and informal economies. ... Riane Eisler's speech to the World's Women Forum Plenary July 29, 2004 was *Revisioning The Economic Rules: Empowering Women And Changing The World* On Vehicle Efficiency & MUCH more, from David Blume:
The technology for alcohol fueled vehicle engines was hid for 70 or 80 years until David Blume not only re-established it's viability - as likely critical solution to the automobile polution problem - but provided a means for everyone's individually converting their own vehicles. A prolific author and teacher, find everything you need to know about this via the "Alcohol Can Be A Gas" page at Permaculture .Com: "With alcohol fuel, you can become energy independent, reverse global warming, and survive Peak Oil in style. Alcohol fuel is "liquid sunshine" and can't be controlled by transnational corporations. You can produce alcohol for less than $1 a gallon, using a wide variety of plants and waste products, from algae to stale donuts. It's a much better fuel than gasoline, and you can use it in your car, right now. You can even use alcohol to generate electricity. Alcohol fuel production is ecologically sustainable, revitalizes farms and communities, and creates huge new opportunities for small-scale businesses. Its byproducts are clean and valuable. Alcohol has a proud history and a vital future." Excerpt from Solarliving .Org: "David Blume starred in the 10 part PBS series Alcohol As Fuel. He is a master permaculturist, ecological biologist/designer. and one of the first CSA farmers in Amreica. He's worked around the globe in alternative energy, sustainable agriculture, food/energy security and democracy. He's the author of Alcohol Can Be A Gas, has taught intensive workshops to over 10,000 people while apprearing on Radio, Print and television over 1000 times." Related: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Blume
On Efficiency From UCS:
the Hybrid Blog for fuel saving ideas. A project of UCS. A few of the "Recent Posts" include: # What would YOU call “compelling and extraordinary?”; # Debate "Flows" on EPA Blog; # Helping the EPA’s Blog with “Openness and Transparency” [11/24/08]
Tips For Fuel Efficiency from Global Stewards .Org
UCS Hybrid Center Hybrid Technology Center UCS Hybrid Watchdog
Clean Vehicle Solutions * Cleaner Cars, Pickups, and SUVs
...Solutions: * Advanced Vehicles and Fuels ...Solutions: * Cleaner Diesel
The Impacts of Gasoline & Diesel Vehicles * Cars, Pickups, and SUVs The Impacts... * Diesel
On Bio-Fuels From UCS:
The Role of Food Crops as Transportation Fuel. (References the next three articles)
Land use changes and biofuels
The 2007 Renewable Fuel Standard Issue brief: Low carbon fuel standard
From Global Stewards .Org
from Global Stewards on Bio-fuels: Biodiesel Links
Biofuels Library (great list of links, including links on how to make your own biodiesel)
GrassRoots Biodiesel Home Page
Other Sustainable Planet Resources
Washington Toxics Coalition activists alerts, a great variety of health protection information; ie: "Healthy Holiday Gift Guide," & more www.realmoney.org offers advice on fostering sustainability in the ultimate local environment -your own home and hometown. A Bi-Monthly Newsletter available with Co-op America membership or by newsletter-only subscription ($20/year)
Green Pages .Org Fair Trade Action .Org
Responsible Shopper .Org Climate Action .Org
Related Resources
Favorite Solution links at Political References Page
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