My buddy Duane sent this to me. Thought it was kind of cool. Enjoy.
Live Sustainably
Dave
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Bottled Water
Monday, March 10, 2008
Notes from a Homebrewer
My buddy Duane in England is a biodiesel homebrewer, something which i know very little about. I asked him to write something up and he sent along this little biodiesel homebrewing primer. It's by no means a tutorial, but a really good overview on what it takes to brew your own fuel and what the pros and cons are.
Live Sustainably
Dave
I bought a FuelMeister 40gallon machine from Biodiesel Solutions just before moving to the UK in 2005. Once in the UK, the trick was sourcing waste oil as it is a big business here and virtually all of it is assiduously collected from pubs and the usual suspect sources and sent to Germany where the biodiesel industry is huge. I'll spare the boring details of sourcing oil which will be different depending where you live and jump right to the immutable particulars:
COST
I bought my machine three years ago for about $4000. Waste oil costs will vary - I pay about £0.28 per liter ($2.35/gal). In the UK, a 55gal drum of Methanol costs about $240; 8gal of Methanol are required for every 40gal batch of biodiesel. Costs for NaOH (caustic soda, aka drain opener) are nominal. Each 40gal batch uses about 600grams of NaOH, depending on the acidity of the waste oil. Another big cost, not necessary in warmer climates, was $1500 for a blanket to heat the oil stock in its 1000 liter container.
TIME
Once you get the hang of it, the actual hands-on time to make a batch is minimal - less than half an hour. You have to: (1) pump 40gal of stock oil into the processing tank, (2) test the acidity of the oil (kinda like testing your pool water's pH), (3) pump 8gal of Methanol into its premix tank while adding in an amount of NaOH determined by the acidity test, (4) draw the Methanol/NaOH mix in with the oil (this is the catalyst that separates out the glycerin). That's it. You then can come back about 12hrs later to draw off the glycerin that has settled out. Here's the bitch though, both in terms of technique and time:
WASHING THE BIODIESEL
I have found that I must dedicate almost another full day to the washing - returning to drain the wash water every 2-4 hours. The FuelMeister has a hookup for your garden hose and creates a gentle mist that filters down through the biodiesel, washing out any remaining impurities and neutralizing the pH. In England, this process is a pain (esp in winter) because the water is very cold and tends to promote the creation of a lot of soapy foam. The process is much easier in the summer. I can only assume that if my machine were in a heated environment and the water were warmer, this would all be a lot simpler.
LEARNING CURVE
The basics are very simple; when I first started, I had flashbacks to being a pimply 9th grader in science class. I only had one wasted batch - my first. And had I followed the instructions and done only a half batch on the first try as suggested, I would have cut my losses by 50%! The second batch went into the car and there's been no looking back.
TRICKY BITS
You've got to be sure that you open and close the various valves in the right order! If you don't, oil can get sucked into places it's not meant to go and all sorts of gooey, plasticy weirdness gets created that is a big pain to clean out. I've actually gotten pretty good at disassembling the valves to give them a good cleaning every 1000 liters or so - and I'm not terribly mechanical. Another acquired technique is the art of pouring the NaOH into the Methanol at a rate such that it all dissolves evenly. The tendency is to pour too much too quickly. You end up with cakey caustic residue at the bottom of the premix tank and not enough NaOH in the catalyst mixture to properly draw out all the glycerin.
PERFORMANCE
I run both my cars on my homebrew: a little Audi A2 and a much larger Audi A6 wagon. There has been no discernable decrease in power or performance of either car. However, when temperatures hover around freezing, both cars seem to suffer about a 15% decrease in mileage over what they got on petrodiesel. They operate at about a 10% decrease in temperatures around 45-55 Fahrenheit. In the summer months, there's maybe a 5% decrease in mileage. Even at its worst, though, the A2 gets about 53-55mpg and the A6 about 30mpg. In summer, the A2 gets almost 65mpg and the A6 closer to 35mpg. I get great pleasure knowing that I'm driving carbon neutral; even the electricity I use to warm the oil and run the machine's pump is green-sourced! Also, with petrodiesel costing £1.13/litre and climbing (over $8/gal!!), I'm only paying about £0.52 - closer to US prices. But my cars get twice the mileage that their US counterparts got when I was living there, so I rationalize my way into believing I'm driving at 1/2 price in both places...
Happy brewing! ~Duane
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Bush Calls For Americans To Embrace EVs
Seems to me that if Bush has jumped on the bandwagon, we must really be in trouble.
Welcome to the Party!
Live Sustainably
Dave
Dave
Monday, March 3, 2008
Pacific Gyre Sample
The sample you are looking at was taken off the surface of the ocean 1500 miles from land by my friends Marcus and Anna. Studying the Gyre for the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, they surmised that it is 25 million square miles and comprised of approx. 3.5 million tons of plastic debris. While this may not seem like much, consider this, it's a little over a cup of water and it's got all of that in it. And since the fish eat the particles and bigger fish eat those fish, you may just be looking at dinner.
Live Sustainably
Dave
Friday, February 29, 2008
Poop Freeze
I was flying up north yesterday and started to read SkyMall, that shopping magazine they have on planes that takes advantage of the fact that you are trapped with nothing to do. I was perusing the pages laughing at products that I'm certain no one actually needs, and most likely most don't even want, when i cam across this little gem. Here's the blurb from the mag.
"Poop Freeze is an easy, earth-friendly way to do your "dooty" and clean up after your dog. It chills animal waste to -62°F, creating an outer "crust" that enables you to quickly place in a bag and dispose. Makes picking up loose stool and diarrhea easier. Effective for all kinds of pets, including dogs, cats, birds, etc. Indoor or outdoor use. Safe for humans and pets when used as directed. "
I'm sorry did that say earth friendly? Truly? Earth friendly? Now i'm assuming they are talking about CFC use, but can you really look at this product that no one on earth actually needs and say that it is friendly in any way towards the earth? Unreal.
I ordered a case.
I guess the thing that gets me is this so highlights the whole greenwashing thing that is going on all around us. So few people actually take time to critically think about their decisions that they can go ahead and buy and use Poop Freeze and feel likem they are doing the right thing. They can look past the manufacturing, transportation, and disposal of Poop Freeze and smile as they ice their dog's waste stream simply because they were told it was ok. Advertisers wouldn't lie would they?
Same thing gets me about disposable. Who decides that it's disposable? An environmental engineer who looks at the cradle to grave cycle of the project, or a number cruncher named Bob (my apologies to all the Bobs out there) who has determined that people will buy something at a certain price point, throw it away and buy another one, if they are led to believe that that's ok.
Allright, I'm done. Rant over. Gotta check my mail and see if the Poop Freeze has arrived.
Dave
I'm sorry did that say earth friendly? Truly? Earth friendly? Now i'm assuming they are talking about CFC use, but can you really look at this product that no one on earth actually needs and say that it is friendly in any way towards the earth? Unreal.
I ordered a case.
I guess the thing that gets me is this so highlights the whole greenwashing thing that is going on all around us. So few people actually take time to critically think about their decisions that they can go ahead and buy and use Poop Freeze and feel likem they are doing the right thing. They can look past the manufacturing, transportation, and disposal of Poop Freeze and smile as they ice their dog's waste stream simply because they were told it was ok. Advertisers wouldn't lie would they?
Same thing gets me about disposable. Who decides that it's disposable? An environmental engineer who looks at the cradle to grave cycle of the project, or a number cruncher named Bob (my apologies to all the Bobs out there) who has determined that people will buy something at a certain price point, throw it away and buy another one, if they are led to believe that that's ok.
Allright, I'm done. Rant over. Gotta check my mail and see if the Poop Freeze has arrived.
Dave
Speak and Be Heard
There's a great post i just read on the Be The Change Blog about an experience she had with a grocery store. She brings here own bags and when she got home, noticed that they ahd plastic bagged a small item that she wasn't aware of. So she wrote a nice note to the store manager (nice is the key here) and they ended up talking to her and then telling their employees to make sure to ask folks with re-usables before they bagged anything. Shows the power o making your voice heard, even on a small level.
Similarly, I have taken to writing/calling organizations and asking if they'd remove me from mailing lists (mostly non-profits I support). Here's an email I received back that shows how most folks are willing to help if they can and know what you want.
Thank you so much for calling late last week and requesting that we stop sending paper mail to you and instead contact you only by e-mail. I wish more donors would let us know their preferences!
Please know that it sometimes take awhile for a change like this to take effect, because paper mailings are prepared well in advance and are impossible to recall. However, the change has been made so you should stop receiving paper mailings from us within the next month or two.
Thank you again for your support for our work. Please contact me any time. I would love to thank you personally for your gifts.
Chris
Christine M. Dodson
Manager, Annual Giving
Freedom from Hunger
1644 DaVinci Court
P.O. Box 2000
Davis, CA 95618
(530) 758-6200 Ext. 1042
1 (800) 708-2555
www.freedomfromhunger.org
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Ban the Bag! Sign The Petition
A blog reader sent me the following link and post to an online petition to ban plastic bags in grocery stores all across the country. I think making our voices heard on this subject is important, and this, along with sending it to your representatives in Washington, is a good way to do it.
Dave
This is a petition intended to urge all CEOs of major U.S. supermarkets to completely eliminate plastic grocery store bags.
On January 22, 2008, Whole Foods Market, the global leader in the natural and organic foods market space, formally announced that it will permanently end the use of all disposable plastic grocery store bags. This decision affects all of its 270 stores, and is set to be completed by Earth Day, or April 22, 2008. We at Green Eggs and Planet (http://www.greeneggsandplanet.com), are fully behind this small but significant step forward in terms of global consciousness and environmental awareness. And this got us to thinking.
What about the rest of the super markets and grocery stores out there across the land? What are they waiting for?
We don't believe that it should only be the province of the environmentally aware, eco-friendly "organic" or "health" food store, regardless of how large and seemingly important Whole Foods may have become in recent years. Those of us who have awoken to the reality of the planet's state, rather unfortunately, still represent only a growing minority. The fact of the matter is that the issue at hand, specifically that of eliminating plastic bags from use across the country, is a concern for all people -- whether they realize it yet or not. The time, however, is now.
Many of us have begun to notice a small change creeping up in our local grocery stores and super markets -- with some stores currently offering alternatives at the checkout stand. It's no longer just "Paper or plastic?" -- now there's also a re-useable bag for sale, typically around 99 cents, silently and awkwardly perched somewhere within arm's reach, quietly vying with the entertainment rags and candy racks for your attention. More often than not, however, nobody at the grocery store is educating the consumer, offering the re-useable option as the only way to go, serving up the exact reasons behind why making that decision is so potentially important.
Here are the facts:
-- According to the Environmental Protection Agency, we consume over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps in the United States alone, every year.
-- In the U.S., consumers throw away about 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, with an estimated cost to retailers at $4 billion.
-- Plastic bags are petroleum based, and they litter countless landfills, often taking more than a thousand years to break down. This means that polymers of literally every single bag ever produced still exist somewhere, in some smaller form, on our planet.
-- It takes over 400,000 gallons of crude oil to produce 100 million plastic bags. Less than 1% of these will be recycled.
-- Hundreds of thousands of seabirds and marine mammals, including whales and sea turtles, die every year from eating discarded plastic bags that they mistake for food.
-- Plastic bags don’t actually biodegrade; instead, they constantly break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits (photodegrade). In the process, they contaminate soil and waterways. Eventually, they are accidentally eaten by many animals, and end up in the food chain, later to be consumed in many cases by humans.
-- Despite efforts to reuse and recycle, studies have shown that plastic bags are consistently among the twelve items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups (Center for Marine Conservation).
Many other countries have banned or actively discourage the use of plastic bags, including Australia, Ireland, Italy, Taiwan and more. Still others have instituted a tax on all plastic bags that get used at the grocery stores. Mumbai has formally banned the use of plastic bags since 2005.
A little bit of consciousness and simple, practical action can go a long way if all consumers make the choice to abandon plastic bags, make their voices heard with their super market and grocery store corporations and make the switch to re-useable shopping bags. Whole Foods estimates that from May to December of 2008, they will be preventing 100 million disposable plastic bags from entering the environment.
The goal now is to confront all other CEOs of major grocery store chains with this evidence, with Whole Foods example, and with our voices -- and a demand for change and a new collective policy towards the environment. Time is running out.
Take a minute to sign this e-petition, and spread the word. Copy and paste the link from the petition, and pass it along to all of your friends.
When we reach a significant amount of signatures whose collective voice will have the ability to make an impact, we will then draft a formal letter along with this petition, and send it to all major U.S. super market CEOs and leadership.
This includes:
The Vons Companies, Inc.
Albertsons LLC
Ralphs Grocery Company
Safeway Inc.
The Kroger Co.
Gelson's and Mayfair (Arden Group, Inc.)
D'Agostino Supermarkets, Inc.
Pathmark Stores, Inc.
With your help, we will reach that number of signatures quickly, and foster positive environmental change.
On January 22, 2008, Whole Foods Market, the global leader in the natural and organic foods market space, formally announced that it will permanently end the use of all disposable plastic grocery store bags. This decision affects all of its 270 stores, and is set to be completed by Earth Day, or April 22, 2008. We at Green Eggs and Planet (http://www.greeneggsandplanet.com), are fully behind this small but significant step forward in terms of global consciousness and environmental awareness. And this got us to thinking.
What about the rest of the super markets and grocery stores out there across the land? What are they waiting for?
We don't believe that it should only be the province of the environmentally aware, eco-friendly "organic" or "health" food store, regardless of how large and seemingly important Whole Foods may have become in recent years. Those of us who have awoken to the reality of the planet's state, rather unfortunately, still represent only a growing minority. The fact of the matter is that the issue at hand, specifically that of eliminating plastic bags from use across the country, is a concern for all people -- whether they realize it yet or not. The time, however, is now.
Many of us have begun to notice a small change creeping up in our local grocery stores and super markets -- with some stores currently offering alternatives at the checkout stand. It's no longer just "Paper or plastic?" -- now there's also a re-useable bag for sale, typically around 99 cents, silently and awkwardly perched somewhere within arm's reach, quietly vying with the entertainment rags and candy racks for your attention. More often than not, however, nobody at the grocery store is educating the consumer, offering the re-useable option as the only way to go, serving up the exact reasons behind why making that decision is so potentially important.
Here are the facts:
-- According to the Environmental Protection Agency, we consume over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps in the United States alone, every year.
-- In the U.S., consumers throw away about 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, with an estimated cost to retailers at $4 billion.
-- Plastic bags are petroleum based, and they litter countless landfills, often taking more than a thousand years to break down. This means that polymers of literally every single bag ever produced still exist somewhere, in some smaller form, on our planet.
-- It takes over 400,000 gallons of crude oil to produce 100 million plastic bags. Less than 1% of these will be recycled.
-- Hundreds of thousands of seabirds and marine mammals, including whales and sea turtles, die every year from eating discarded plastic bags that they mistake for food.
-- Plastic bags don’t actually biodegrade; instead, they constantly break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits (photodegrade). In the process, they contaminate soil and waterways. Eventually, they are accidentally eaten by many animals, and end up in the food chain, later to be consumed in many cases by humans.
-- Despite efforts to reuse and recycle, studies have shown that plastic bags are consistently among the twelve items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups (Center for Marine Conservation).
Many other countries have banned or actively discourage the use of plastic bags, including Australia, Ireland, Italy, Taiwan and more. Still others have instituted a tax on all plastic bags that get used at the grocery stores. Mumbai has formally banned the use of plastic bags since 2005.
A little bit of consciousness and simple, practical action can go a long way if all consumers make the choice to abandon plastic bags, make their voices heard with their super market and grocery store corporations and make the switch to re-useable shopping bags. Whole Foods estimates that from May to December of 2008, they will be preventing 100 million disposable plastic bags from entering the environment.
The goal now is to confront all other CEOs of major grocery store chains with this evidence, with Whole Foods example, and with our voices -- and a demand for change and a new collective policy towards the environment. Time is running out.
Take a minute to sign this e-petition, and spread the word. Copy and paste the link from the petition, and pass it along to all of your friends.
When we reach a significant amount of signatures whose collective voice will have the ability to make an impact, we will then draft a formal letter along with this petition, and send it to all major U.S. super market CEOs and leadership.
This includes:
The Vons Companies, Inc.
Albertsons LLC
Ralphs Grocery Company
Safeway Inc.
The Kroger Co.
Gelson's and Mayfair (Arden Group, Inc.)
D'Agostino Supermarkets, Inc.
Pathmark Stores, Inc.
With your help, we will reach that number of signatures quickly, and foster positive environmental change.
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