Saving the World & Solar Energy

[Marblehead]

Good that you have the space and time to grow your own veggies.  I did that for a few years right after I bought my place but the effort was much greater than the results so I just gave up on that idea.

 

No, really, can't blame the oil companies.  They are in business to earn a profit.  Investing without seeing a possibility for just break-even is not wise.

 

Wind powered energy production in the USA seems to be increasing.

 

I think the USA is still dragging its feet on solar.  But then, based on the scams of the past regarding solar production I can almost understand.

[thelerner]

Growing veggies can be done by the very lazy (such as myself).  Years ago following Mother Earth magazine directions I laid 10 40# bags of soil end to end on my lawn.  Slit the bottom, opened up the top and planted into them.  I used cheap $1.20 bags of soil and supplemented with one bag of Miracle Grow soil.  Things grew great. 

 

The next year I removed the bags, mixed one bag of Miracle Grow into the line.  Following years I'll add in a mix of coffee,leaves and grass cutting compost.  I do a poor job of trellising, but somehow things grow and thrive nicely.   I usually do a gazpacho mix, tomatoes (favorite little sweet 100 & yellow hybrids), cucumbers, and peppers. 

 

By keeping it on the front lawn, I'm more conscientious and can grab a handful of sweet grape tomatoes any time I come and go.  Best of all, a couple of neighbors have joined me in front lawn veggie gardens.

Edited June 4, 2015 by thelerner

[thelerner]

Nikolai1 mentioned this site- http://www.diggersanddreamers.org.uk/ and asked if there was a similar one for the U.S.  I don't know.  Nice site though.  Links to The Utopia Experiment, Intentional Communities Symposium,  New Eurotopia- listing 430 progressive communities across Europe.  As well as general Resource guides, directories and Noticeboard. 

 

Is there a similar site for the U.S, Canada or elsewhere?  Where one can find Communal Living Links and such? 

Edited June 11, 2015 by thelerner

[zerostao]

Nikolai1 mentioned this site- http://www.diggersanddreamers.org.uk/ and asked if there was a similar one for the U.S.  I don't know.  Nice site though.  Links to The Utopia Experiment, Intentional Communities Symposium,  New Eurotopia- listing 430 progressive communities across Europe.  As well as general Resource guides, directories and Noticeboard. 

 

Is there a similar site for the U.S, Canada or elsewhere?  Where one can find Communal Living Links and such? 

not exactly what you requested, but in the same spirit , i thinks

 

http://www.wwoof.net/  i know a nice lady looking for a good volunteer actually in my neck of the woods, she is very fair.

[thelerner]

not exactly what you requested, but in the same spirit , i thinks

 

http://www.wwoof.net/  i know a nice lady looking for a good volunteer actually in my neck of the woods, she is very fair.

Thanks, good site, connecting people with organic farms then setting up room and board situations.  I'm sorry that there's a $40 or $50 membership fee for it, but maybe thats the way of the world. 

[thelerner]

Great little house design.  140 square feet, beautifully done.  Nice video explanation of its design and philosophy.  I like the loft and that it makes good use of grey water.  

 

http://www.sun-gazing.com/woman-shows-beautiful-tiny-140-square-foot-house-incredible/

[Stosh]

Good that you have the space and time to grow your own veggies. I did that for a few years right after I bought my place but the effort was much greater than the results so I just gave up on it.

I found the situation down here similar, it seems like it would be easy in fla, but frankly our climate soil sand and water is very demanding on many crop plants. We would be better off growing opuntia and sea grapes ,but they arent exactly popular. I always wondered why celery was so popular.

Edited July 1, 2015 by Stosh

[thelerner]

I think this is very positive; in headlines China Pledges to cut 300,000 troops by 2017.  It'll still have a 2 million man army, but that 300,000 is a 13% reduction.  Hopefully we'll see more countries follow.  300k less should free up 100's of millions that can be more productively used.   

[Geof Nanto]

Great little house design.  140 square feet, beautifully done.  Nice video explanation of its design and philosophy.  I like the loft and that it makes good use of grey water.  

 

http://www.sun-gazing.com/woman-shows-beautiful-tiny-140-square-foot-house-incredible/

 

I live in a pole framed, timber clad cabin in a semi-wilderness area. There's no grid electricity here; solar panels and batteries. Rainwater tanks for water. My web connection is via satellite. My cabin is a tad bigger than 140 sq ft though. It's about 7 metres square with a sleeping loft over about a third of it. It's the most comfortable house I've ever lived in. I share it with geckos and microbats. It's quiet here, at least as far as human activity is concerned. 

 

However my lifestyle choice is nothing to do with any philosophy of saving the world, rather it's how I'm most comfortable living; simplicity, nurtured by nature. I literally chop wood and carry water. But I also like the realm of human consciousness; the web of thought that connects us all. 

[thelerner]

I live in a pole framed, timber clad cabin in a semi-wilderness area. There's no grid electricity here; solar panels and batteries. Rainwater tanks for water. My web connection is via satellite. My cabin is a tad bigger than 140 sq ft though. It's about 7 metres square with a sleeping loft over about a third of it. It's the most comfortable house I've ever lived in. I share it with geckos and microbats. It's quiet here, at least as far as human activity is concerned. 

 

However my lifestyle choice is nothing to do with any philosophy of saving the world, rather it's how I'm most comfortable living; simplicity, nurtured by nature. I literally chop wood and carry water. But I also like the realm of human consciousness; the web of thought that connects us all. 

Could you tell us a little more.  Was it a big break from how you grew up?  What inspired you and what were the hardest parts.

[Karl]

Anyone heard of the the Fourth world wilderness conference. You know, that one the nice Mr Rothschild and all his merry egomaniacs is trying to impose on the rest of us ?

[thelerner]

Anyone heard of the the Fourth world wilderness conference. You know, that one the nice Mr Rothschild and all his merry egomaniacs is trying to impose on the rest of us ?

I kinda like to keep this on track for Solar Energy and things that can improve the world. 

Maybe start a new thread on environmental conspiracies? 

 

later addon> Its not meant to be limiting.  You can start a fresh post on it in a new thread.  I don't want a dozen posts on conspiracies through environmental conferences on this thread.

 

Feel free to argue but hopefully as an addon> to your single post so this topic doesn't get bogged down by lots of posts on lack of freedom and political correctness and injustice.   All good topics on some other thread somewhere else. 

Edited September 9, 2015 by thelerner

[Karl]

I kinda like to keep this on track for Solar Energy and things that can improve the world. 

Maybe start a new thread on environmental conspiracies? 

 

Kind of limiting but it's your thread.

[Marblehead]

There are always limits Karl.

 

In a program I watched last night they showed and talked about, but only briefly, solar cooking that the French are supporting for Africans where there is no source of energy.  It is based in ecology as they are trying to reduce the number of trees that are being felled in order to make charcoal for cooking.

[Marblehead]

Yeah, like, I wouldn't invite a grizzly bear in to sleep with me.

[thelerner]

Great ideas here.  Amazing material.  In essence its concrete with foam.  Simple, cheap, light..  So many uses beyond just housing.

 

 

[Marblehead]

I never would have had the imagination to do something like that.  But I still think it is amazing what can be done with imagination and little cost.

 

I sure wish I could have found access to that light weight concrete when I was building my fish ponds.

[thelerner]

What a concept, running foam through concrete.  He said he's using dish detergent.  Still the timing and mix would have to be pretty precise, but a cinder block size and strength at 1/10th of the weight would be awesome.  Hell even as a kids toy to play with giant blocks would be amazing. 

 

There's a nature park by me, and they have life sized Lincoln Logs and kids love to haul them around and build with them. 

[Basher]

Air-crete instead of Concrete.....Genius.

[Karl]

Even better. Print your house out of aircrete

 

[ralis]

Great ideas here.  Amazing material.  In essence its concrete with foam.  Simple, cheap, light..  So many uses beyond just housing.

 

 

 

I could find nothing on tensile strength and load bearing properties which are two important considerations before using this material. Out here in the SW straw bale houses were all the rage for a period of time. However, when I inquired as to the potential of mold within the walls, no one could answer such a basic question except that the straw is dry and completely sealed which gave me a non answer. I have never seen a straw bale that was completely dry.

Edited September 17, 2015 by ralis

[thelerner]

I couldn't find stats either.  Probably none for the 'homemade' stuff created in the video.  But, the professional factory made version seems to be pretty well researched and extensively used. 

 

from http://www.aircrete.co.uk/assets/pdf/design_flexibility.pdf - more reports http://www.aircrete.co.uk/technical-information.html

It’s easy to appreciate why aircrete masonry is such a

popular form of construction, accounting for over 60% of

all new housing starts in the UK.

 

Aircrete is so much more than just a structural building

block, and has been developed for use in many

applications, ranging from external and internal walls

through to foundations, floors and rapid build systems. It is

a versatile material that saves time and wastage, whilst its

inherent acoustic and thermal resistance make it the ideal

solution for cost-effective compliance with Part L and Part

E of the Building Regulations for England and Wales.

Edited September 17, 2015 by thelerner

[Geof Nanto]

Carl Jung describes the building of his house at Bollingen where he spent months at a time living as simply as possible, without electricity or running water.......

 

 

"Gradually, through my scientific work, I was able to put my fantasies and the contents of the unconscious on a solid footing. Words and paper, however, did not seem real enough to me; something more was needed. I had to achieve a kind of representation in stone of my innermost thoughts and of the knowledge I had acquired. Or, to put it another way, I had to make a confession of faith in stone. That was the beginning of the "Tower," the house which I built for myself at Bollingen.

 

It was settled from the start that I would build near the water. I had always been curiously drawn by the scenic charm of the upper lake of Zurich, and so in 1922 I bought some land in Bollingen. It is situated in the area of St. Meinrad and is old church land, having formerly belonged to the monastery of St. Gall.

 

At first I did not plan a proper house, but merely a kind of primitive one-storey dwelling. It was to be a round structure with a hearth in the centre and bunks along the walls. I more or less had in mind an African hut where the fire, ringed by a few stones, burns in the middle, and the whole life of the family revolves round this centre. Primitive huts concretise an idea of wholeness, a familial wholeness in which all sorts of small domestic animals likewise participate. But I altered the plan even during the first stages of building, for I felt it was too primitive. I realised it would have to be a regular two-storey house, not a mere hut crouched on the ground. So in 1923 the first round house was built, and when it was finished I saw that it had become a suitable dwelling tower.

 

The feeling of repose and renewal that I had in this tower was intense from the start. It represented for me the maternal hearth. But I became increasingly aware that it did not yet express everything that needed saying, that something was still lacking. And so, four years later, in 1927, the central structure was added, with a tower-like annex.

 

After some time had passed — again the interval was four years — I once more had a feeling of incompleteness. The building still seemed too primitive to me, and so in 1931 the tower-like annex was extended. I wanted a room in this tower where I could exist for myself alone. I had in mind what I had seen in Indian houses, in which there is usually an area —though it may be only a corner of a room separated off by a curtain — to which the inhabitants can withdraw. There they meditate for perhaps a quarter or half an hour, or do yoga exercises. Such an area of retirement is essential in India, where people live crowded very close together.

 

In my retiring room I am myself. I keep the key with me all the time; no one else is allowed in there except with my permission. In the course of the years I have done paintings on the walls, and so have expressed all those things which have carried me out of time into seclusion, out of the present into timelessness. Thus the second tower became for me a place of spiritual concentration.

 

In 1935, the desire arose in me for a piece of fenced-in land. I needed a larger space that would stand open to the sky and to nature. And so — once again after an interval of four years — I added a courtyard and a loggia by the lake, which formed a fourth element that was separated from the unitary threeness of the house. Thus a quaternity had arisen, four different parts of the building, and, moreover, in the course of twelve years.

 

After my wife's death in 1955, I felt an inner obligation to become what I myself am. To put it in the language of the Bollingen house, I suddenly realised that the small central section which crouched so low, so hidden, was myself! I could no longer hide myself behind the "maternal" and the "spiritual" towers. So, in that same year, I added an upper storey to this section, which represents myself, or my ego-personality. Earlier, I would not have been able to do this; I would have regarded it as presumptuous self-emphasis. Now it signified an extension of consciousness achieved in old age. With that the building was complete."

 

 

 

“We rush impetuously into novelty, driven by a mounting sense of insufficiency, dissatisfaction, and restlessness.  We no longer live on what we have, but on promises, no longer in the light of the present day, but in the darkness of the future, which, we expect, will at last bring the proper sunrise.  We refuse to recognize that everything better is purchased at the price of something worse; that, for example, the hope of greater freedom is canceled out by increased enslavement to the state, not to speak of the terrible perils to which the most brilliant discoveries of science expose us......the new methods or gadgets, are of course impressive at first, but in the long run they are dubious and in any case dearly paid for.  They by no means increase the contentment or happiness of people on the whole.  Mostly they are deceptive sweetenings of existence, like speedier communications which unpleasantly accelerate the tempo of life and leave us with less time than ever before.”

 

Edited September 22, 2015 by Yueya

[thelerner]

I was impressed with Jung's simplicity until I saw his castle .

 

 

 

I like this: From Cracked.com Fascinating Vending Machines around the world

#1. Cars (China)

Sapidaily.com

No, not toy cars. Not even fancy model cars. Actual, honest-to-God cars.

 

OK, fine, electric cars. But still: real cars that you can get in and drive places. The concept works just like the vending machine at your workplace and even costs around the same: You walk up to the Kandi Machine garage building in Hangzhou, China, pay a little over $3, and the mechanism serves up a 50-miles-per-hour, electric-powered vehicle that is yours for the next 60 minutes.

 

Once you're done, you can leave the vehicle at one of the many drop-off points. The idea, incidentally, is to help combat pollution in China before the country is completely swallowed by a cloud of smog and no one sees it again. Kandi's CEO plans to expand these facilities all over China and have at least 750 such garages available in Hangzhou alone. That should cover about -0.02 percent of China's population, but still, it's a nice idea.

Edited September 26, 2015 by thelerner

[Karl]

Luckily they have several hundred coal fired power stations with which to charge them.