from the crow's nest

Here is a great read on wind energy. Talks (in clear, plain English) about energy efficiency, equipment size requirements, costs, wind requirements, connecting to the utility grid, and has a fantastic glossary.

http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/pdfs/small_wind/small_wind_guide.pdf

This is from the US Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Their tagline is "Bringing you a prosperous future where energy is clean, abundant, reliable, and affordable."

This is BIKE to WORK month. Do a google on it! St. Petersburg is going to be doubling their bike lanes this year - they used to be high on the list for dangerous biking but - no longer. Whatever you do, wear a helmet. 90% of Florida biking deaths were people who didn't wear helmets. What a tragedy.

Here's a website for shopping that sells crafts from developing countries. http://worldofgood,com

They need a little help redesigning their navigation through the site but if you are in need of a trendy Mother's Day gift they have beaded jewelry and bags plus bamboo bowls and many other nice choices.

I ordered roses online for my mother's birthday. I found the link through The Nature Conservancy http://www.nature.org. The company, OrganicBouquet.com, donates 10% of their revenue to The Nature Conservancy and I thought that was a good thing. Obviously OrganicBouquet champions organic farming and reducing environmental damage and given more time I would have read more about their different certification programs and looked for flowers that didn't have to be air freighted for delivery. Wouldn't it be nice if they had locally grown organic flowers that could be biked over to Mom?

Labels: environment, Nature Conservancy, OrganicBouquet

This is a reminder to self - check out SunPower, competes with coal-fired grid power.

Have you seen the Home Joule? It's a nifty little plug-in (to your outlet) that monitors your electrical consumption. If it turns red, it means you should make an effort to conserve energy consumption stat. http:/www.consumerpowerline.com/homejoule

Oh, I missed it. Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI just had Cameron Sinclair, co-founder of Architeture for Humanity, as a speaker. Mr. Sinclair is a known authority on sustainable development and works on third world development projects. http://www.cameronsinclair.com/

It's been rather overwhelming lately reading all the articles about global warming and the greening of the world. Some of it was a result of Earth Day, I'm sure, but I hope it continues and the buzz gets louder and louder. We need to hear about efforts and things that work over and over so that more people jump on the band wagon and DO something.

There was an article in Wired March 2007 about a guy living on an island in Washington (state) who has created a hydrogen-fueled home rather than depending on solar panels that are never adequate for an entire home energy system. The system generates hydrogen from water, and stores it in a 500 gallon tank. If you want to learn more, the article was called "Backyard Fuel Cell". Very interesting.

I read the Audubon's magazine regularly - in fact, it is one of the reasons I continue to give them money year after year. This last issue had an article about organic farming at Stone Barns Farm outside Manchester, New York. http://audubonmagazine.org/features0703/cuisine.html

At the end of the article there was a URL that caught my eye. http://www.chefscollaborative.org Their Mission:Chefs Collaborative works with chefs and the greater food community to celebrate local foods and foster a more sustainable food supply. The Collaborative inspires action by translating information about our food into tools for making knowledgeable purchasing decisions. Through these actions, our members embrace seasonality, preserve diversity and traditional practices, and support local economies.

Their site has a restaurant locator on it. Surprise of all surprises - Florida has only one listing!

Check it out - http://www.myspace.com/greenmade

A marketing company for artists interested in environmental and humanitarian concerns, who create arts and crafts with those concerns in mind, and who wish to extend their messages to a wider audience.

According to the National Association of Homebuilders, wood floors will last a lifetime, tile floors will last 75-100 years, but laminate floors will only last 15-25 years. Same old adage - you get what you pay for.

I put in bamboo flooring in my last home, the real stuff, not Pergo. Loved it and would do it again. My current residence has the Pergo - it's okay, seems to sit on foam and float above the concrete base. Dents easily with chair dimples but still has good looks.