What “green” thing did you do this week?
It’s the small things that add up.
I washed and dried two pleated paper filters from my shop vac.
Knocked out the major crud against the side of a tree (standing upwind). Then filled a five gallon bucket with warm water, some citrus based cleaner and a shot of chlorine bleach. Let it soak for about 30 minutes, swished it around, then drained and air dried it for two days. Good as new, maybe better because now it smells like an orange.
If anyone doubts the filter is any good after this treatment, I’ve been using the same two $15 filters for close to five years.
Edited 10/15/2009 10:37 pm ET by RedfordHenry
Replies
I had never thought of washing them, I usually get a couple of months out of one filter and then toss it. I like that idea quite a bit.
I am working on a job a 15 blocks from my house so I biked to work one day. ( I have also been making tea at home every morning in a reusable mug)
I did food shopping with reusable bags! (should change my name to green giant) (height=6'5")
You're kidding right? You use (without cleaning) a filter for "a few months" then toss it?
I knock the dust out of mine everytime I empty the can. My current filter must be 3 years old. I only now need to replace it cause the rubber end ring is busted.
I bounce mine on the ground. Really seems to work well.
Family.....They're always there when they need you.
Car pool with a co-worker for over three hundred miles this week. We left the trucks in the driveway and drove my toyota corolla. Thankfully, we can leave tools at the site without any fear that they are going to "walk away"
I meditate, I burn candles, I drink green tea, and still I want to smack someone.
I flushed twice, because California is a long ways away.
Been through three vacs, but the same filters. ;)
I re-userd the zip-lock bag for my Oreo cookies in my lunch.
Next I will use the bag to pick up doggie doo-doo.
Please do not bang your filters against that tree, give it a hug.
It's OK if it's a walnut tree:A dog, a wife, and a walnut tree -- the more you beat 'em, the better they be.(Hey! I didn't write that, it's an old English saying.)
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
but will you continue to use the bag for yur Oreos???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Installing 41 Velux Suntunnels in a city owned affordable housing apartment complex. City received Federal money to make energy efficient improvements for low income residents.
Now they can eat breakfast without having to use electricity to light up their morning!
I also recycle the massive amounts of cardboard that each suntunnel is packaged with.
But they will waste more BTU energy in lost heat than they save in electricity
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I've always wondered about that. Don't know whose information to trust. Your statement may have more merit in Maine than Colorado. I won't pretend to know one way or another. I am grateful for the work though.
If this is a section 8 complex, then you can rest assured all of the lights will be left on and the cable TV will run all day. Hopefully, if there are kids there, they are getting something to eat in the AM...
It is a city owned property where rent is based on income. Not anywhere near as bad as some of the section 8 that I've worked in. Most of the people are truly impressed and happy with the natural light. Some of the tenants need to stop sitting around smoking and drinking all day, and get a job. Just my opinion tho.
I removed a 50 ft, 45 year old sycamore from my front yard as a preventive measure before any more limbs fell and took out more roof tiles on the house and my newly re-built front porch damaged from falling limbs in the last wind storm.
I recycled all the wood into firewood (that could be a potential negative) but it is off set by all the huge carbon footprints I avoided by not having to call in roofers and carpenters to rebuild my roof and porch from the falling limbs. Then I used the mulch created by the stump grinder to to cover my plantng beds and add to the compost pile.
I cancelled an airline flight from JFK to Cairo a few weeks ago.
As a result 20,000 gallons of jet fuel were not burned.
Reuse the wax paper to wrap my sandwich two or three days in a row.
Been using the same 'disposable' plastic spoon for eating my soup outta my Thermos¯ for the last 4 years.
Refuse to use PT lumber.
Never do vinyl siding.
Smoke roll-yer-own unfilitered cigarettes.
Buy organic food whenever possible.
Compost all kitchen scraps, yard trimmings, and animal waste.
Use worn out tee-shirts for Shop-Vac filters.
Use worn out underwear for paint rags.
Never buy paper towels; use pressed paper egg-crates to drain bacon, sausages, etc., and cloth dishtowels to wipe up spills.
Use my empty Motrin bottles as small hardware containers.
Use empty laundry soap buckets to store maple sap when making syrup.
Recycle all my empty rum and whisky bottles....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
Edited 10/16/2009 11:01 am ET by Dinosaur
"Use worn out underwear for paint rags."So - what colour is that blue thing you are so well known for now?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Asking vendors and subs to email quotes and bids instead of fax.
Fixed the electric mudbuggy golfcart instead of using tractors or 4WD pick-up to get around the property.
Reworked an old wooden window sash and installed a painting in the window spot instead of buying something new.
Opened the windows last night instead of running the AC. (South Texas)
Getting my 11 year old boy up early (5:30AM) to catch the school bus at 6:00 instead of mom taking him to school at 7:30 (he does not like me now)
Discussed green / leeds certified waste water treatment system (http://www.livingmachine.com) with Texas rep, with interest on water re-use, and scheduled on-site meeting for next week
There was a recent article on the system in Sustainable Land Development Today (SLDT) magazine.
http://www.sldtonline.com/content/view/663/1/
Looking at sustainable / resource reducing / green space land plan by Rick Harrison Design Studio, instead of the conceptual plans we are considering.
http://www.rhsdplanning.com/ (If interested, click What is Prefurbia? at a minimum.)
http://www.performanceplanningsystem.com
Article on Rick's software package for land planning.
http://www.sldtonline.com/content/view/664/1/
Thanks for using a smaller font - that's green right there
Edited 10/16/2009 12:40 pm ET by McDesign
Only did about 1800 airline miles this week vs. 3000 the previous few weeks. <G>
Took DW with me this week, so filled an empty airline seat to make it more efficient.
Turned the heat down to 55F before we left, and threw all the garbage out the back door for the local animals to eat vs. sending to landfill.
Did not even drive the rental car anywhere Wednesday.
etx.
This AM, we planted next year's garlic. (no trip from CA to ME for my garlic) and harvested carrots, beets, leeks. Threshed dry beans (five kinds). Yesterday, I made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce, using our own ingredients: basil, oregano, garlic, onions, peppers, plus local mushrooms and sausage. Even used Maine sea salt.
Eat local and eat often!
I just filed two lawsuits electronically, no postage, gas, paper, etc. Electronic filing is one thing the feds do right.
I'll be planting mine this weekend. Got the bed ready last week, but ran out of daylight
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I planted next year's garlic today!Softneck artichoke type?I planted one and one half pounds of seed garlic. You?
ripped out the flow restrictors out of the shower heads and upsized the supplies......
I now have a 10GPM shower... ahhhhhhhhhhh.........
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Now we're talking serious shower!
no snorkle...
no shower...
but the by product is all the gray water for the green house...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
I want to get one of those Kohler systems with 8 heads all going at once. My plumber says you need a one inch pipe and two one hundred gallon water heaters. Pipe it all to the greenhouse and think what you'll save on spinach next year.
use a 600 gallon pressure tank and a 3/4" line... 4 nozzels...
no soap required...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Just make sure it's gray and not yellow.
We plant a hardneck variety. We plant three rows about ten feet long, six inches apart. It produces enough for us to use all year, plus enough to plant for the next year. I have no idea of how much we plant by weight. Probably cloves from fifteen heads or so. We just plant the big cloves and save the small ones to eat. This year was a great one for garlic here in ME.
This is the first time I've grown garlic. Seems pretty uncommon, even amongst gardeners.What I bought were two varieties. 1-1 1/2 pounds were comprised of ten large bulbs. I planted 6" oc and got about fifty feet of row. We ate the smallest cloves.The book I'm following touts hardneck varieties, but also repeatedly says they are harder to grow and store. It's good to hear you do well with hardneck. I'll try it some year as I keep adding to my gardens.
I finally bought worms from the worm farm (where we live) for my mom. She took the vermiculture class at the university, bought the bin, etc.
She is happy that the worms are quiet and she doesn't have to take them out to pee.
Work for the greatest vital intensity - the greatest solidity and aesthetic reality. Finally, eliminate everything non-essential. Reduce to the absolute essence. ~ F.C. Trucksess
I never took a class or bought any sort of bin.I'm likely going on four years of good success at something I'm not doing correctly at all! <G>
Well, despite living on the worm farm, I still don't know that much about it, and I don't really need to. Living here, if you need compost or just rich garden dirt, we just call Mark at the office. Next thing we know, here comes the tractor to dump it where ever we need it. Free. Yep, no charge.
Same with firewood. "You guys need firewood? Here, we'll just bring you a load." (Free again.) It was all split, dry, and ready to burn oak.
Ahhh...life on the worm ranch is fun...
Work for the greatest vital intensity - the greatest solidity and aesthetic reality. Finally, eliminate everything non-essential. Reduce to the absolute essence. ~ F.C. Trucksess
Sounds good!Life on the worm garden is very good, too! <G>What sort of climate do you live in? "Worm Farm" is not a terribly descriptive location for your profile.
Well, it's NorCal. You can look up wormfarm.net. That's where we now live as part of the ranch here. Pretty neat community.
Work for the greatest vital intensity - the greatest solidity and aesthetic reality. Finally, eliminate everything non-essential. Reduce to the absolute essence. ~ F.C. Trucksess
For those who may know:
Can I set this pump up for solar, instead of running wire / electrical equipment?
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_21891_21891
640' from panel to pump location and $1,250.00 in material.
You'd need an inverter to convert the DC to AC, and you'd need a way to power the inverter. Some inverters are AC powered, some can run off DC or battery packs. So that can be a bit of a conundrum for remote installations.Easiest would be to use a DC pump that's compatible with a photovoltaic array. Will a DC pump work? Depends on your need. While AC pumps can give high flow output, DC pumps are usually more of a low flow. Tortoise versus the hare. Low flow "slow and steady" can still work in some applications if you have a holding tank for volume reserve.If this was for feeding cattle, for example, a simple low flow DC pump would work fine to fill a water trough or a holding tank. If you have a high volume need, then things can get more complicated and/or more $$.
> Some inverters are AC powered, some can run off DC or battery packs.Uh, why would someone want to build an "AC powered" inverter?
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
I had a discussion with a residential PV installer earlier this year, since most homeowners want to avoid banks of batteries, this company's "standard" installation is rooftop panels with an AC-powered inverter. As long as you're on the grid, the inverter is powered by standard grid AC and can convert the rooftop generated DC into AC that can be sent to the house or back on the grid with net metering.The sad irony is that if you encounter a power outage, your inverter can't run, so even with all those PV panels sitting on the roof you're not able to convert or use any of that output.So why would someone build and AC-powered inverter? Cause there's a market for them I suppose.
That's not an AC-powered inverter, it's a phase-locked inverter that'll only run if the AC is present. Still powered from the DC produced by the PV array.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
I stand enlightened and corrected.
I installed some WR siding that was pre-painted green
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
I bought a case of beer in returnable bottles, then I went to the bathroom several times in the backyard.
Am I supposed to presume you drank the beer in between the former and the latter?;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I have decided not to shower for the rest of my life.
...promise not to show up at any BT fests.....
Scott.
I have decided not to shower for the rest of my life.
That's too extreme. Just don't shower alone.
After a couple of weeks he won't have an option.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
In parts of BC and Utah you can shower with more than one of your wives.
I was replacing some windows today and needed to squeeze down the rough opening 1.5". Rather than use the new lumber that I brought to the job for this purpose, I cleaned up the pine casings that we ripped off the original windows (no rot, just a few nail holes) and used it to pack out the rough opening. Took an extra 30 seconds picking through the debris pile, but saved the client a few bucks, plus that old casing won't wind up in the incinerator.
I have decided not to shower for the rest of my life.
I pledge to buy brown underwear from now on, in order to get more mileage between changes.
Your handle becomes all to clear...
>>>Your handle becomes all to clear...BWAAahahahahahahahaha
I got in the pool with a beer this afternoon when I got home hot and sweaty instead of taking a shower.
I've driven less than five miles in the last four days.
Sound good? I also drove four hundred miles over the weekend. Adult children are hard on the environment, I've learned.
Spent most of this week working on our gardens. Growing one's own food counts, right? <G>
Alas, I ran the gas powered roto-tiller quite a bit. I say "alas" because now I hurt a lot more. I don't mind the gasoline!
For one thing, I recycled old socks by making sock toys for the dog. Three socks tied in knots and tied together make a perfect toy.
And, I live on an organic Worm Farm now. Yes. Really.
Damn, that must worse then herding cats! Hard work branding the little critters.
Hard work branding the little critters.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>G<
at least they ain't to0 fast and she does have a border collie..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Yeah, it's a tough life what with keeping the Robins and sport fisherman at bay. But, every once in a while the sun comes out and the world stands still. Then way off in the distance you can hear the little wigglers playing
in the compost. Then you know it's all worth it.
yup...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
I forgot: No paper napkins. Not since 1975.
Does that count as 'this week?'
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
I cut my lawn and ate a mess of collards. It doesn't get any greener.
I drive a 1000 miles a week at 90 mph, sometimes 95. By myself. no car pooling. yesterday i pour some gas on a fire ant hill.
>>>cut my lawn and ate a mess of collards.Are you saying you've got collards for a lawn?...Very resourceful, smart, and tasty. Love collard greens....Scott.
Yeah, I save water by not washing my shirt, and now my collar's green too!Paul
http://www.pauljohnsoncarpentry.com
har har har....
I know, I couldn't resist against all better judgement.
http://www.pauljohnsoncarpentry.com