What is it going to take to get you to go solar?
I’m lucky enough to live in a state that gives small solar rebates to homeowners who invest in them. Colorado is also home to a solar panel research laboratory and GE is even planning on setting up a solar panel manufacturing plant here as well.
But what is it going to take for homeowners to actually switch to solar? Many companies offer the installation of solar panels at no money down. Other claim the monthly payments for solar panels even out to the amount they are likely saving each month and even gaining money by selling back to the grid. The common theme? Money.
And that’s exactly the approach SunRun is taking to their marketing of solar panels. Earth-saving altruism is nice, but let’s face it – few people would bother installing solar panels if they weren’t somehow cost effective. Otherwise, going green would be a truly impossible task.
“Sometimes,” SunRun’s website states, “people just don’t use enough electricity to make the switch to solar financially worthwhile.
Makes sense. A point they put across in their video advertisements as well. Going green with solar is, literally, all about the green.
What would it take for you to go solar? Even partly?
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You say “Hippie Talk” like it’s a bad thing
Chevrolet has this commercial running right now to sell their new eco-friendly Malibu.
“That’s hippie talk” the senile father says.
Is this what we can expect from the older generation? Any hint of a progressive technology is automatically shut down just because it isn’t what they are used to? Frankly, I’m not sure why Chevrolet isn’t embracing this older generation. Or why most of us leave them to be the “senile old folks that will be dead soon anyway.”
While their impending demise may be true, they are still voting. In some cases, they are the only ones still voting both at the polls and at the cash register.
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Reader Question – Being green on a budget
Received a question via Tumblr this week:
“Hey there, I really want to start being more green. I do your typical recycling public transit and am vegetarian, but feel that I could do more. Thing is, I’m a college student so money is definitely not bountiful and I live in the city so not much room for gardening other than my little window box and terrariums. Any tips or suggestions for me?”
I get this sentiment a lot from people I talk to. They feel as though just because they don’t have a cozy five-acres off the grid somewhere, then their ability to be green is rather limited. Frankly, this couldn’t be farther from the truth.
from Lexicon of Sustainability
The trick is to be conscious of your consumption and waste streams. The less you acquire, the less resources are consumed. The less that is consumed, the less that is wasted and thrown away. The number one key to green is being conscious of the fact that everything came from somewhere and everything has to go somewhere. In between these two destinations is the incredibly brief (by comparison) time that you are in ownership of that item.
Of course, consuming and throwing away things is a part of the world we live in. Even those that live off the grid consume and dispose – they just do it on a scale that is sustainable within the infrastructure they have to work with. Applying the same thinking, no matter what your address is, can do wonders.
So what is a college-student/ urban dweller to do?
Here are a few ideas:
Indoor composting: vermicomposting uses the power of eartworms to break down organic materials into compost. If done properly, it’s hardly noticeable and every few weeks you get compost! Vermicompost kits are for sale all over the place. Some blogs and websites have make-your-own worm-bin designs. Compost Revolution is also doing some pretty cool stuff.
There is always somewhere to garden. Whether it is a collection of buckets in the corner of a parking lot or an empty patch of dirt between the sidewalk and the street. If you have sunlight, soil, and water, you have opportunity to grow. Ask neighbors who have yards for a bit of space and offer them some of the harvest in return. I feel, as a culture, we have reached a point where a public-facing garden isn’t necessarily a bad thing, so long as it is kept up.
Shop the local farmer’s markets. There’s always good deals on fresh, responsible produce. Many are willing to haggle or barter for products. Ride your bike. Bring your own bags. Bring a date and turn them onto shopping local and fresh.
Lastly: ease your addiction to plastics. This is definitely the most challenging, but plastics are in everything and get everywhere. The percentage of plastic that is actually recycled is abysmal (only about %30, according to Recycle Across America), the rest isn’t broken down properly and ends up in the worst imaginable places (like, our food supply) or becomes a nation-sized island in the middle of the Pacific. Plastics are one of those cruel ironies that are cheap enough to be disposable, but durable enough to last forever.
Consider using glass for food storage, buy in bulk when you can, and go out of your way to remove disposable plastics from your life completely.
What are some ways you take the extra step to live greener?
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What Scouting’s Leave No Trace taught me about being a hippie
Badges from my days at Philmont
For close to 15 years, I was a registered member of the Boy Scouts of America. Most athletes don’t even have careers that long. Hell, in this economy, a career is lucky to span a decade. As a The other day I came across a pack tag that outlined the principles of Leave No Trace. It was carried with me during my camping, hiking, and backpacking days to serve as a reminder of what I was obligated to do while existing in the backcountry, among the wildlife, and in the undeveloped land.
During my time as a Philmont Ranger the importance of Leave No Trace very clear. Philmont is roughly 140,000 acres. During the summer something to the tune of 30,000 people come to the area to camp, hike, learn and Scout. At any given point, upwards of 4,000 people were somewhere in the backcountry. That’s a lot of traffic for a fairly small area. The only reason Philmont has been able to maintain this traffic for the past several decades is due to the conscious observance of Leave No Trace.
If it works for the great outdoors, then why can’t it work for everywhere else? Could the principles of Leave No Trace be applied to your day to day life? The ideas behind LNT are to reduce one’s impact on the environment they inhabit and to then eliminate all evidence of their presence after they leave.
Plan ahead and prepare. The Boy Scout motto is to Be Prepared for whatever situation may arise. Sometimes, preparing doesn’t have anything to do with bringing the right equipment, but by taking an extra five minutes to plan. If the forecast says rain, bring an umbrella. If you’re going to be out of the house all day, think for five minutes about everything you think you will need that will keep you from having to make extra trips home. Clothes for the gym, a sack lunch, your own coffee mug – five minutes can save you quite a bit of time and waste down the road.
Camp on durable surfaces. Some places just make for bad campsites. Rocky, unlevel terrain. Harsh winds. Setting up camp in the middle of a meadow will leave you exposed to the elements, and it will all but destroy the ground you sleep upon. Not everywhere is designed to sustain people, no matter how much technology and engineering we apply to it. New home developments may seem like a good idea right up until we think about how to water those homes and deliver power and the stress those homes will put on local traffic.
Just because a house can be built doesn’t mean we should be living there. How much energy is required to make your home livable? Maybe it’s not the campsite that needs to be more durable. Maybe we need to be more durable.
Dispose of Waste Properly. You’re responsible for every piece of trash you generate. From food packaging to meal leftovers and everything else you come up with, all of it leaves the backcountry with you. Failing to do so just puts the burden on someone else. It also leaves a bad impression and an even worse example for hikers who come after you.
The dumpster isn’t always the best way to dispose of your trash. Think about what you’re throwing away, what will become of it after it leaves you? At home, recycle. Consider composting. The best way to reduce the amount of waste you end up throwing away? Don’t even invite it into your home to begin with.
On a California beach
Leave What You Find. Take only photographs, leave only footprints. Doing anything else would assume that you are somehow superior to the natural world (you aren’t) and you are robbing something for all those who come next. I can only wonder what I missed out on because the generation ahead of me didn’t leave what they found.
Everything you use today is one less thing that someone else can’t appreciate. Be mindful of your consumption.
Respect Wildlife. When hiking, it’s easy to come across wildlife. A squirrel, a deer, maybe something bigger or more obtrusive. Somehow, we’re OK with seeing the wildlife in the wilderness. But when a bear or a mountain lion comes traipsing into the suburbs, we feel violated. Where is the line between what is wilderness and what is not?
Furthermore, how can we expect an animal to understand this boundary. In the end, who is really being the nuisance? The animals? Or us?
Minimize Campfire Impact. To ensure a campfire is completely extinguished, it is advised that the ashes are spread by hand and the fire pit is deconstructed. When building a fire, smaller is better. Smaller fires are better to cook on, easier to control, and more comfortable to be around.
Smaller fires got the job done while burning less wood. Overall, the less used the better.
If the Scouts didn’t practice Leave No Trace, there would be nothing left of Philmont today. My time spent at Philmont, with the Scouts, and with the principles of Leave No Trace have no doubt formed a lot of these “hippie” opinions I carry with me today. Is it possible to live a less impacted lifestyle while so far from the wilderness?
Absolutely. It is just more of a challenge.
Can you leave no trace?
read moreLocal or Organic? What’s the better choice?
@CreativeCommons
Over the past year Not Quite Hippie has grown to a point where people I meet consider me something of an influence (or, blegh, an authority?) on food, gardening, and other related green-junk. That’s all fine, I guess I can handle it. My initial goal was to present something that would just get people talking about living a more sustainable lifestyle with the idea that they would start to live one.
The one question everyone wants to know the answer to?
“Is it better to eat food that is local? Or food that is organic?”
Fair question. I’m kind of sad that it even has to be a question and that all to often the two definitions are exclusive of one another. Yes, there are local food growers who are also organic, but they seem to be few and far between and they are almost never in your grocery store.
So do you buy food that is better for the earth (local) or food that is better for you (organic)?
I’d say, when push comes to shove, go for organic. Yes, even if it comes from Chile or China.
Studies have shown that only about 11% of the carbon produced from food production is associated with transportation. The rest of that, especially in conventional agriculture, goes into everything from the farm machinery to the nitrogen based pesticides and fertilizers.
However, a New York Times story that ran last week showed how the demand for farms that produce organically is straining the water supply of several Mexican provinces. Organic is no longer sustainable and a whole new set of problems occurs.
Food should be sustainable. I’m not sure how much clearer that needs to be. Creating a sustainable food system comes from a combination of food being produced locally, organically, and food that is consumed responsibly and disposed of with great care.
In a perfect world, this means we only eat what we can grow within our own climate. No more bananas for Colorado! Or coffee.
And already the perfect world starts to fall apart.
There will always be a demand for food. But the business acumen that has been applied to agriculture is not: “We need to grow enough” but instead “We need to grow more.” This “more growth” idea has been fueled forever by irresponsible subsidies and farmer debt.
The need to increase doesn’t seem to come from the demand, as something to the tune of 30% of all food in America is wasted and around 12% of all our garbage is food-related waste. This food, which is rarely recovered properly,is wasted energy as the energy burned to create and transport those calories are essentially lost in the waste stream.
Rather quickly, the idea of sustainable food falls apart.
What is one to do?
Obviously, you can grow some of your own food. And compost what is leftover. Just poke around this blog, I’m sure you’ll find a dozen bits to help. Or straight up contact me on how you can get started.
Every few years they pass a Farm Bill in Washington D.C. It’s usually allocates agriculture funding for the next few years. Inform yourself about it and encourage your representatives to do something about moving towards a sustainable
At the very least, eat smarter. Think about where you’re food is coming from, what had to happen for it to get to you, and what’s going to happen with the leftovers. Take the time to do the research on what you’re eating – it is, after all, going inside of you.
A quick guide to eating within season
