12 Biking Myths

It's Bike to Work week! I saw this biking article this morning, from REI's website. Pretty good tips for biking to work (or anywhere)--addresses some common misconceptions about biking.
http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/articles/getting+into+biking.html

Economic benefits of local purchasing

I work in university food service, so this article caught my attention when a coworker sent it to me. It gives brief results from a study of Oregon farm-to-school programs and offers numbers on the economic benefit to the state.

Local Purchasing Pays Dividends
from Food Management magazine

Green water

My husband and I are in desperate need of a new water heater, but we have been procrastinating due to the lack of reliable information on what truly is the greener alternative. Here I was, thinking that making such a seemingly small decision would be easy, especially considering all the work I have done on eco-labels, and green products. Man, was I wrong. Probably close to two years ago (yes, we have really needed a new water heater for that long), I started doing some research on different products, talking to plumbers, contractors, and environmental experts. No one really seemed to know, except for a generic “on-demand is better” from the green camp and “conventional is better” from the plumbers. What we have found, is that there are lots of factors to consider when buying a new water heater, including the temperature of your groundwater, your usage, and the number of major appliances you have. In our case, it’s just the two of us and every appliance we have, including faucets and shower heads are low flow. We have restrictors in all our faucets, and we never run the washer and dishwasher at the same time (our only two major water-using appliances). Generally, we are a very low-flow household. Despite that, the overwhelming recommendation is to not buy a 4 gallon-per-minute (GPM) or smaller water heater. We did the math (adding up all our uses in GPM, and considering that we never use 100% hot water), and it seems 4 GPM, for us, should be plenty. But I am inclined to listen to the professionals, even though I think there is a certain fear of anything new and unconventional. Additionally, on-demand water heaters are more expensive and come with major installation costs, but I am willing to make the “green” investment. And there is that $250 tax credit. Here’s a summary of what we learned:

1. Certain on-demand water heaters cannot be operated where groundwater temperatures get below 60 degrees.
2. Electric on-demand water heaters require a large amount of amps (we have 100 amp service and would need to upgrade at least to 200, which is a significant expense).
3. Gas on-demand water heaters are not nearly as efficient as electric, but still more energy efficient than conventional water heaters.
4. Finding a plumber in Muncie to install an on-demand water heater is tricky, but can be done.
5. On-demand water heaters last much longer than conventional. A conventional water heater seems to last 3-5 years at a maximum in Muncie due to our hard water, just based on conversations with other homeowners. So the up-front and installations costs of conventional heaters should probably be doubled or tripled, because they have to be replaced more often.
6. Installation of gas water heaters require special venting, and the purchase of a $350 venting kit. Vents must be a minimum of 4”, which can be an issue in some homes, especially one that is 100 years old, like ours.

Check out this spreadsheet that I put together just for a simple comparison.

In my opinion, you also shouldn’t consider installing an on-demand water heater before you have made sure that your water consumption is at its minimum. We have spent the last five years minimizing our water consumption by our practices (turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth…), installing water-efficient appliances (including a dual-flush toilet, which doesn’t use hot water, but is very neat…), and installing restrictors in faucets and showers (and getting used to them!).

Wish us luck! I hope this info may prove helpful to you, too. Later.

Re-growing Muncie

// excerpted from an article written in Dec. 2007 //

What if making Muncie stronger meant making Muncie smaller? What if, instead of consistently developing along the peripheries of the city, we began to infill or redevelop the city’s existing fabric? What if the “holes” of blight, vacant factories, and under-developed properties were infused with new life, new uses, and new value? Could an infusion of concentrated (and maybe even coordinated) re-development transmit and transform the contiguous properties, districts, and neighborhoods? Could re-integrating over-looked or under-utilized parcels enhance the vitality (and perhaps the perception) of a given area? Could multiple areas being enhanced simultaneously create synergetic improvements? Could creating denser networks between strategic commercial zones stimulate the life between them?

What if this infill allowed us to re-use our existing infrastructure instead of constantly building new? What if we actually maintained and maybe even up-graded our existing infrastructure for which we have a budget and in which we have already invested? What if the enhanced infrastructure served existing users in addition to the new developments instead of just the newest user at the end of the line? What if we captured more property taxes, sales taxes, and income taxes from within city limits instead of needing to annex more periphery land to fund the ever-expanding growth (or flight)? What if government had less area to govern? Would it be feasible to have a smaller government? Could that require fewer taxes to run? What if there were more people in a given area to fund a smaller government? Would per capita taxes decrease?

What if there were enough people in a given area that commercial areas could afford to be more interspersed throughout the city – and we could even walk to them instead of driving? What if we actually used MITS? What if it actually made sense to ride the bus instead of driving? What if it didn’t need to take federal dollars to keep our public transportation financially solvent?

What if our economy was driven by diverse sectors of the market, and not just two or three? What if new businesses utilized the existing labor pool for local improvement? What if we used what we actually produced? What if what we produced was something we could actually use? Could we create a local symbiotic network of inputs and outputs for the benefit of this community (as opposed to “that” one: China)?

Could we dream more about who and what we aspire to be? And lament less about what we once were? Could we move from the current malaise of cynicism and misplaced nostalgia to a place where we dare to hope once more? Could we spend our dollars where it benefited us most - here? Could we support our local entrepreneurs and value their investment into our community with our patronage? What if we looked at the second stage costs of our decisions and not just the advertised price? Would we dare pay a little more to keep opportunities open here? Or pay less and watch opportunities travel abroad? Could the price of helping a neighbor make a living and keep his house maintained (and not foreclosed) be worth it – for your property value?

What if we changed the incentives to spend here and live here and build here? What if we valued the people here as citizens (as opposed to just consumers) and the lives we are all trying to lead?

What if?

Low-carbon travel

I recently found out about an experiment one of my friends is conducting together with her fiance. World In Slow Motion is the "travelogue" for Tom and Lara's journey around the world without flying. While a pretty radical, and cetainly not a no-carbon alternative to air travel, they are definitely proving a point about slow travel, appreciating regionality and reducing their carbon footprint. Pretty amazing. You should check it out. Later.

Random tidbits

Do you have a random and unusual smart living trick? I do, but I'm sure I'm not the only one doing this. Both me and my mom reuse ziplock bags. A quick rinse, and they are good to go again, unless, of course, you kept onions in them. Last Christmas I bought a bag dryer for my mom; just a little wooden stand that you hang your baggies on to dry. The cool bit of extra-super-sustainability was that the dryer was made from certified sustainable wood. If you're inetrested, check out Forest Stewardship Council's labeling at FSC. Bag dryers can be bought from a number of places, I think I got mine from Gaiam.

If you have a good smart living tip, leave a comment to this post to let us know! We really want to hear from you. Later!

Thinking of installing a rain barrel? How about building a SUPER rain barrel?

Interested in building a rain barrel? Here are some directions on how to build a large-double-stacked rain barrel system. This site provides detailed directions and parts required to construct a 100+ gallon system.

Double Rain Barrel Instructions