energy

Walking to the shops makes life better

It often takes an outside eye to help one see things close at hand. Last night, a friend came to my house for supper. I'd made a rhubarb crumble, and mentioned that it really should be served with ice cream. Everyone agreed, and my daughter said, in the most ordinary way, "I'll go get some at the coop." The Berkshire Coop is a small version of Wholefoods and it's about five minutes' walk from my house, straight down the hill and across Main Street. She picked up her purse and [...]

June 27th, 2012|Categories: The Search for Community|Tags: , |

McMansions

I have no right to be holier than thou and have never claimed to be a perfect when it comes to household matters, but I was a bit shocked by this story comparing Al Gore's home to George W. Bush's house in Texas. The excellent Urban Legends site, Scopes.com, says it's true: http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp.

August 22nd, 2007|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: , |

Website hosting

I'm blogging in haste from Narita Airport in Tokyo, en route to China, and here's a link I've been meaning to pass along: SustainableWebsites, Green Web Hosting. We're planning to look into this at the office, and I've heard good reports. More from China, as I meet with environmentalists there.

August 26th, 2006|Categories: Oddments|Tags: |

Appliances aren’t just energy accessories

In some cases, a new household appliance can save a good deal of energy. This is true for refrigerators and freezers, and for washing machines (especially if you choose front-loading). But it's not true of televisions, as this article, "Plasma screen TVs sap energy supplies," explains: "Britain's seemingly insatiable appetite for the latest plasma screen televisions could be posing a serious threat to the planet, a technology expert has warned. "If just half of British homes were to buy one of the flat-screen sets, two more nuclear power stations would [...]

August 15th, 2006|Categories: Oddments|Tags: |

Organic food for one and all (but what does “organic” mean now?)

Food has always been a central environmental concern, but there are some new issues arising. One is the growing conflict between fuel and food--or, one might say, between SUV drivers and the world's poor--and another is the mass marketing--or, perhaps, the industrialization, of organic food. It's a little hard to tell whether Michael Pollan thinks the latter is a good thing or a bad one, in "Mass Natural" in the New York Times: "This is good news indeed, for the American consumer and the American land. Or perhaps I should [...]

August 10th, 2006|Categories: Oddments|Tags: , |

Oil and water shouldn’t mix

I've noticed a trend here that strikes me as a good sign. I've seen two or three people drinking water out of glass bottles they've obviously refilled. This solves the perennial water bottle challenge of taste (how many discussions have you heard about the latest, greatest new sports bottle?), and is so much better for the environment (and health) than buying bottled water. Here's a great photo created by David Coale of Acterra, who worked out how much oil is takes to ship a bottle of water from its source [...]

August 4th, 2006|Categories: Oddments|Tags: , |