Lower Footprint

I've Joined the Other Group

2008-06-11T11:27:00.002-03:00

If you recall my earlier posts about water conservation, I firmly came down on the side of the "jiggle the handle" toilet flushing debate. I thought an unflushed toilet was something terrible, something only found in the morning when your parents are visiting.

Well, at the risk of affecting my future dating life, I'm happy to announce that I've switched sides. I'm now in the "if it's yellow, let it mellow" camp. So far, it's been no big deal. I have my own en suite, so I don't have to worry about guests or roomies. It's been relatively cool, so I don't have to worry about anything stewing, even if it is left for a workday or overnight.

Thus far, I'm saving two to three tanks of water per day, maybe more (some days), maybe less (since I was doing the jiggle thing anyway).

Do you have any experience with this? Is there a safe, eco-friendly trick to this to keep it cleaner or more sanitary? I sincerely doubt dropping a bleach tablet in the tank is the eco-friendly option I'm looking for...

Toyota Joins the Fuel Cell Ramp Up

2008-06-06T15:28:00.002-03:00

This article was just sent to me from Meg about the new specs of the Toyota Fuel Cell.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/06/06/toyota-fuelcell.html

Definitely worth checking out!

So this is called grazing?

2008-05-27T10:27:00.003-03:00

As I type, I have a lot more food in front of me than usual. My office assistant and I decided to start making coffee in the morning rather than getting the usual take-out stuff. Reusable mugs, less cost, just as good. Additionally, my spread includes a container of plain roasted almonds, half a bag of baby carrots, a home-made muffin, and the yogurt is in the fridge behind me.

So this is the new munch-all-the-time-on-food-that-is-good-
for-you plan. Lunch yesterday consisted of a big bag of carrots and broccoli.

We won't talk about last night's supper just yet.

Eco-Friendly Dorms Are Coming

2008-05-26T09:11:00.002-03:00

I'm just arriving back at work and I find this in my inbox:

How green is the College?

Very neat to see that a little bit of competition can go a long way...

An Eco-Friendly Diet

2008-05-25T14:13:00.002-03:00

I've decided that it is time to shed a few pounds and start eating better. Thus, today I started putting together an eco-friendly diet with a purpose: The Diet for a Lazy Wanna-Be Vegetarian. We all know that eating locally and eating vegetarian are both smart and good for the environment, but I have to be perfectly honest. I'm damn lazy when it comes to food. I work 40 hours a week, take classes, have a busy and active social life, and at the end of the day, if I even get home by supper time, I'm not prepared to start cooking anything dramatic. Did I mention I hate and routinely waste left-overs?

I do love to cook. I just don't make time for it unless I'm having guests or am really craving something specific. But if I'm going to be realistic about this effort, I'm going to have to make it foolproof. As inspiration, my houseguest Meg has eating habits that are very similar to mine: quick, infrequent, uncomplicated, but the difference is that she's much more likely to make a three item salad, while I'm more likely to order the pizza.

For starters, I'm replacing the usual snack items in the house (chips, chocolate, etc) with better choices. A short trip to Pete's this morning got that much done.

Any suggestions? Recipes? Foolproof strategies?

Low Flow Shower Head

2008-05-17T17:09:00.004-03:00

As you may have noticed, I've been away from the blog for a bit. I was volunteering at the IIHF World Hockey Championships which left little time for much else. Community involvement is part of this project for me.

Anyway, on with the eco-friendly stuff: Today, I installed my new low flow shower head. It was part of the kit that I was given with the energy audit last month. Needless to say, this was a super-easy project that involved only about ten minutes, a bit of plumber's tape, and a pair of channel locks. Wham bam, done.

Testing it out was a bit more fun. It has three settings, excellent pressure, and all in all, makes for a very nice shower. The benefits are many: less water usage, less hot water and electricity used, improved pressure. As far as green projects go, this one is cheap and easy!

Bike to Work Day?

2008-05-16T12:36:00.002-03:00

According to Wired, today is bike to work day! I totally missed it!

My bike needs to get into the shop, then I will see about biking in. My guess is that it will be very good for me, fitness-wise. There are a lot of ups and downs between home and work.

Questions about the Pop Can Furnace

2008-05-02T12:04:00.002-03:00

I had a nice note from Mark in Ontario and I thought I'd share his questions and my answers about the pop can solar furnace... It's been cloudy for a few days, so I'm not getting any free heat this week!

Hi,

I saw your popcan solar furnace on your lowerfootprint.blogspot.com blog , and thought it was unique because all the other solar furnaces are for exterior installation and drilling holes in the house etc. Since we don't have any blank wall space on the south side, those plans aren't too useful. However your window version would work for us.

I'm hoping you wouldn't mind answering a few questions.

Did you put any covering over the pop cans?

What kind of hole did you put in the bottom of the cans and what tool did you use to make it?

Did you make a larger hole in the top of the cans?

What kind of glue did you use to join the cans together?

Thanks for the info.

I had the energy audit too (it cost me $375 in Ontario), and will be adding insulation to bring my attic to R50 this year.

Cheers,
Mark

Here's my response:

Hi Mark...

My second version will be a vertical window one, so I'll post more when I do that one...

1) Currently no covering on the pop cans. They're painted with heat-heat black bbq paint though.

2) The bottom of the cans were punched out using a "churchkey"... the can opener you'd use for opening a can of apple juice. The excess was simply folded into the can.

3) No extra hole in the top. It was part laziness, but also helps to cause some turbulence in the airflow, helping to pick up more heat perhaps. They weren't lined up or anything.

4) I taped the columns from side to side with black electrical tape. This first model is shockingly crude, but hey, it will built in about two hours, start to finish.

The new model will be an enclosed box, sized to fit vertically into a window in my solarium. It will have a glass or plexi front and top and bottom vents. I'm considering a set of shelves inside it, made of perforated material for airflow (possibly wood and my drill). The shelves would allow me to experiment with cans filled with water. I have a row of them on the windowsill and they get quite hot, but of course, keep the heat much longer.

Energy Audit

2008-04-30T18:55:00.003-03:00

It's been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to keep everyone up to date on the progress at home. Here's hoping I can catch up on everything in the next while.

My energy audit happened last week! Initially, I was a little underwhelmed because I had all these ideas of what cool stuff was going to be happening and that we'd been talking solar power and whether a VAWT would be a better choice. Well, we mostly talked insulation.

The good news is that my house is in pretty good shape, by all initial reports. The windows are still in decent shape (with one or two exceptions) and the house is insulated with the best available insulation in 1974. The contraption at the right is a fan unit that pressurized the whole house so we could see everywhere air, and thus heat, was leaking from the house. This part was pretty cool.

I'm waiting to receive the final report, but priority targets are as follows:

fill cracks and leaks throughout the house (on my own)
insulate the ceiling in the garage
a new garage door and door from the garage to the house
new siding and extra insulation around the outside of the house

Most of the above also bring government rebates and I have 18-months to get them done. I also need to install the remaining digital thermostats around the house. As seen previously, these pay for themselves in no time.

Peak Oil and the End of Suburbia?

2008-04-29T11:58:00.002-03:00

Okay, so this is a bit alarmist, but it's a pretty good article in Business Week.

I was struck last week when the city knew that gas was going up by 6 cents, and cars were lined up four and five deep at the stations (idling all the while, of course). It could be a vision of things to come as gas prices will continue to increase well into the summer.

Happy Earth Day!

2008-04-22T20:33:00.001-03:00

Happy Earth Day everyone! Much to report, but no time at the moment! All will be revealed shortly!

Test Driving a Hybrid - Part I

2008-04-19T12:40:00.005-03:00

So, thanks to my house-mate, I was able test drive a 2009 Toyota Camry Hybrid last night. Very fun! Here are a few pics of the car to start.

On the right is the Hybrid Synergy Drive. This is the main component of the hybrid system. One part electric motor, one part computer, one part super-battery.

In this pic to the left, you can see the Synergy Drive on the front right, nestled between the pink fluid canister and the orange cables. The rest of the car's normal combustion engine is behind and to the left of the pink canister.

What immediately struck me about this car is that it is in main respects, identical to my 1993 Camry that I still drive everyday.

So, after checking this vehicle out, I'm left with the idea that we are already in the beginning of a major transformation. The hybrids are here and before we know it, all vehicles will have this technology and in a few years, you may not be able to buy a typical vehicle without this system. For those of us who want even more efficiency, we might find versions with a few compromises in style or size, but overall, I'd expect that our average consumption of gasoline is about to go down dramatically.

In the next segment, I'll show you some of the displays within the car and what it was like to drive.

A Short Film on Biofuel

2008-04-15T21:44:00.003-03:00

I'm seriously wiped from a long day doing factor analyses of anxiety questionnaires, so I've got nothing to say, at least coherently. Luckily for me, and you, my friend Jeni just sent me this short film from Vancouver about Biofuel.

You may now discuss. I will be back as soon as I find my perspicacity.

Pop Can Solar Furnace - Hot Hot HOT!

2008-04-11T15:28:00.007-03:00

It's beautiful, sunny spring day in Halifax. It's 9C outside, which is kind of nice, but it's been consistently sunny all day... That means the pop can solar furnace that I built is pumping out the heat. This morning, the top of the cans were too hot to touch comfortably, so I thought I would put my thermometer up there.

So this little guy maxed out above 52C! Time to ramp it up... I put a meat thermometer up there, with the probe touching the surface of the cans. Here's the result:

Yes, that reads just above 82C or about 185F!

This panel is tilted at a shallow angle, fixed in place in one of the windows of the solarium. It's completely passive, meaning that I don't have a fan or anything moving the air across the hot surface. It certainly adds to the heating of the room, but a solar driven fan would obviously be an improvement. Baked turkey anyone?

Needless to say, without a vent to be able to use this heat in a thermal siphon cooling setup, I will likely have to take the panel down or cover it for the summer. Regardless, this should mean my winter electric heating season is over. The whole house is a balmy 20 at the moment with no heat on.

Countdown to Earth Day!

2008-04-10T17:29:00.005-03:00

I'm back, but still have much studying to do. The term is winding up quickly, but there will always be more work to do, especially to be completely ready for a statistics final that allows for up to 8 hours to finish it! Ahem.

I wanted to send a thank you to our guest blogger over the past few days. She will be contributing as her schedule allows, so you haven't seen the end of her. Also, some of the good folks over at NSCAD might be willing to contribute an idea or two this summer as well... Green with a touch of art, or is that Art with a touch of green?

Anyway, Earth Day April 22nd! It's coming up soon, so I think we will be having some sort of party here again, much like we did for Earth Hour... it's kinda the same sort of idea, only 24 times bigger! Still not sure what events will be going on, but you can check your local area here.

As part of Earth Day Canada, they are looking for nominations for Hometown Heroes. If you know of someone in your local area that has made a significant contribution to your local environment or environmental community, you should nominate them! Don't forget, I'm still looking for Eco-Heroes of my own to post on this site!

More to come... get ready for Earth Day!

Switching to Greener Soap

2008-04-09T00:18:00.002-03:00

Our guest blogger is doing dishes...?

Hello again!

Today, I went shopping. I finally picked up some eco-friendly dishwashing liquid and liquid hand soap. I opted for the non-scented hand soap, but went for the mandarin and grapefruit dish soap and quite like the smell! It's really fresh and makes me think of breakfast in the summertime. I've literally just gotten home, but gave both a test-drive and am pleased to announce that they're quality products.

The best part? Both boast being free of SLS (Sulfates) and not tested on animals. As well, they declare that they biodegrade "99% within 28 days." The price was comparable to similar products found outside of the organic department of my supermarket.

Confession time: I put off buying products such as these for a long time, as I seem to have been harbouring some nasty beliefs about organic soaps. Part of the hesitation was brand-loyalty to what I had been brought up with, but for some reason figured they'd be watery and ineffective. Not so, and hence, you're the first to witness my transformation. Consider me a changed consumer!

On that note, I've got some dishes to wash…

Signs of Spring

2008-04-06T21:58:00.001-03:00

Guest Blogger Arleigh continues in my place:

It's been one of those days that brings the promise of spring. There are birds chirping that I haven't heard in months and my apartment has been heated so much by the setting sun (yay, western exposure!) that I've been walking around sockless. Shocking.

This sunglasses weather is a reminder that the school year is just about over for anybody at university or college. In Halifax, this marks the end of the first year where nearly all full-time university students received Metro Transit passes for the academic year. This meant an increase in fees, but the price was dramatically reduced from that of a regular adult pass. I have my pass in my hands now, and the "Good thru April 30, 2008" is causing me much heartbreak.

Now that the academics are wrapping up, thousands of university students – myself included - are suddenly going to have to face the music of coughing up $2 per ride or finding alternative forms of transportation. I own a car, but choose not to commute to work every day. With the warmth of summer, I'm looking forward to my hour-long walk either to or from work, but in the meantime, until my schedule sorts itself out, I see a bit more driving and a bit less bus.

Alternatively, I could dig my very rusty hand-me-down bike out of storage and finally figure out how to aid in its passing to the great bike shop in the sky. Perhaps as a reward for surviving a year of my Masters, I could treat myself to a new-to-me bike!

On another note, all you Haligonians should get out to the local shops downtown and pick up a new, free "Green Guide" sponsored by The Coast. It's packed with goodies, highlighting restaurants that buy local, where you can get an eco-couch and what the deal is with recycling techie stuff. A worthy read.

The Sub…

2008-04-05T16:33:00.000-03:00

Hello class… Class! Hello? Could you sit down, pleas—Hey! No throwing! Do you want a detention? No? Well then…? Ah. Thank you.

Now then. My name's Arleigh and I'm going to be your substitute for the next few days while Mateo's slogging through his academic responsibilities. I must admit to being slightly intimidated by this task due to the rapidly expanding readership as well as the size of the shoes that have requested filling, but I'm always up for a challenge! I've got a few ideas up my sleeve. And the best part? I won't threaten to take my clothes off. Promise.

Unlike home-owning Mateo, I live in an apartment, and feel rather powerless on a number of issues. My appliances aren't energy-saving. My thermostat is as old as the building and only shuts off when I remember to flip the switch. The temperature of the hot water verges on painful. The energy waste in the public areas astounds me. Don't even get me started on sweltering stairwells.

Don't get me wrong: I'm doing my bit. I have replaced my old and energy-sucking light bulbs with energy-efficient ones. I unplug phantom-sucking appliances when they're not in use. I compost and recycle regularly.

This is where you – faithful footprint readers – come in. I need your ideas. What have you done to greenify your apartment buildings? Send along stories of how you swayed your superintendents and convinced your landlords. Where did you begin? Which battles have you won? Has there been anything your rental company has been particularly resistant to?

Hope to hear from you all soon!

2 Minutes of Green

2008-04-03T22:33:00.004-03:00

I hope everyone enjoyed my April Fool's Day joke. I know it wasn't something totally outrageous, but I guess I was a little surprised by how people I know took it in stride thinking that this would be something I would do. I guess it's not inconceivable. My parents offered to pay me not to.

Anyway, I am facing a rapidly finishing school term which means it is going to be very busy at both work and school for me (full time job is at a university and I am also taking some classes!). Thus, I will likely not be posting as often or as reliably for the next week or so. I'm working on lining up a guest blogger for you... watch this space.

In other news:

We've had visitors from all 10 provinces in Canada and from 42 US states! Now sending out welcome vibes toward the territories and Washington, Wyoming, North Dakota, Louisiana, Kentucky, Indiana, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma. Are they the least green states in the Union?
Still maintaining 4 bus days per week. That means I've reduced my regular car usage by 80%.
Temperature outside is slowly coming up, but the sun is staying longer and brighter. The temperature in the sun room yesterday was 35C. Ambient temperature in the house is now around 20C without assistance.
Check this out: I was mentioned on Hugg.ca! Be sure to check them out, especially the "What if the environment was a person?" video.

Getting Really Serious About Going Green

2008-04-01T00:00:00.004-03:00

Perhaps I've lost my mind or maybe I've just decided it's time to get serious about this whole project. As many of you know, two of my big passions right now are my green projects and my photography. What better way to raise awareness and funds for these projects than by combining them???

If the Lower Footprint 25kW Challenge can meet it's 3.0kW milestone by the end of the month, I will pose nude (tastefully) for a promotional photo on this blog.

Contributors who make single donations of over $100 will get their own 8x10 print of the photo, to be taken sometime in the early spring (once the weather warms up a little).

Whether you see this as an opportunity to help me make a very public statement about the environment, or a once in a lifetime chance to really embarrass (or em-bare-ass) me, every penny raised for this project will go directly toward my green initiatives.

Show your support and I'll show mine...

***********************************

Update: Frankly, I'm shocked! Due to an overwhelming response (almost $2800), we've almost reached the full goal of this initiative in only one day. A few more orders and we'll be there. You can order your very own 8x10 of me, fully nude, by clicking here. Obviously, I should have set a higher goal!

Out like a lion?

2008-03-31T23:07:00.004-03:00

March is now over and it's been a pretty busy month on the blog. Traffic is up and there has been a lot of interest generated in the local media thanks to Earth Hour. I had my "No Third Bridge" letter read on the CBC on Friday afternoon, was called for an interview for the newspaper regarding Earth Day the same night (missed the call due to attending a great lecture by William Dalrymple), had the blog featured on a local news aggregator today, and my recent article about Irving fighting the Migratory Birds Act landed me as "official blogger" of a Facebook group dedicated to that cause.

So what's a guy to do? No time to rest on my laurels. It's already three months done in this project and I still have a lot to do. Blogging is one thing, but doing stuff is the point of this endeavour. Here's what's in the works for April:

Energy Audit in just a few weeks. Once that's done, I'm eligible for rebates and refunds on some of these projects, so expect to see some bigger work.
The spending challenge (limiting and tracking my spending) is now in week thirteen. Hopefully there will be some funds available for the first couple of projects as identified by the auditor. I'm thinking windows...
Still some water conservation items to tackle. Once the next water bill arrives, I'll be able to start tracking my improvements there and possibly start to get a little bit nuts about it. I suspect I will become increasingly difficult to live with...
I'm working on a weekly report card form that I can post at the end of the week to grade myself on measurable items such as transit usage, etc. Not sure how many things are trackable on a weekly basis, but we'll give it a go.
Even though I'm going to be using the bus as my primary mode of transportation, I testing my car's efficiency... It's a 15 year old Toyota that is still running very well... No need to replace it yet... or is it almost time?
Also thinking that it's time to finally create a custom look and feel for the blog... anyone want to help me create some custom graphics? I just know I won't have the time for it this month.

I'm currently reading both Ecoholic and Living Like Ed so there are all kinds of new things I want to try.

Earth Hour is... Done!

2008-03-29T23:06:00.003-03:00

We spent a cold two and half hours sitting by the light of 3 solar garden lights and three little candles. It was a fun evening as we listened to Jill Barber on CBC and had a rambling multicultural discussion about all kinds of different topics. We were all surprised by how quickly the first hour went by and when none of the neighbours turned their lights on right away, we felt compelled to outlast at least some of them.

So, turning off the main power switch for the house is a bit extreme, but it meant that everything was off. Leaving it for more than an hour or so might have had implications on the fridge and freezer, so maybe next we'll plan better and make more ice in advance or something.

For those who think that Earth Day isn't a big deal, certainly saving 20kW of power and about $2.20 is in fact no big deal. But to have four people sitting around enjoying each other's company without any computer or movie distractions on a busy Saturday night... that's something special. In fact, this might be the start of something a little more frequent than once a year.

Earth Hour is... Now! (Almost)

2008-03-29T19:43:00.002-03:00

15 minutes to go and I'm starting the shutdown. We're throwing the main power switch and then going to listen to a concert on my crank radio under solar powered garden lights in a solar heated room. It's going to be fun!

See you on the other side!

Top Five Things To Do During Earth Hour

2008-03-29T00:07:00.003-03:00

8pm tonight you are going to turn all of your power off. That means no tv, no movies, no internet! What are you going to do to survive for sixty minutes while you help save the planet???

Top Five Things to do during Earth Hour:

Wind up that crank radio and listen to Jill Barber on Canada Live on CBC. It was a great concert at the Cohn and you'll be able to hear me clapping in the crowd (back in February).
Light a candle and play a board game with your friends and family.
Tells stories in the dark like you would do when camping or when the power goes out during a storm. Bring a guitar but leave the amp home.
Go for a walk and take pictures of the parts of town in darkness.
It's only an hour, but you could... you know... help keep someone warm.

Top Five Things Not to do during Earth Hour:

Watch CNN's coverage of Earth Hour on your big screen TV.
Spend 60 minutes in a high-watt tanning bed.
See how many crayons you can melt in one hour on the electric radiator with the temperature cranked.
Tumble dry one item for 60 minutes on high heat.
Steal the surplus energy in the power grid for your underground lab to test out your new Death Ray Weapon.

What are you going to be doing? Leave a comment below!

Mass Transit In Action

2008-03-28T15:40:00.004-03:00

I know I've made reference to it a few times, but part of my footprint reduction is to take the bus as often as possible. It's been a little bit of a struggle initially, as I get used to the routes and their timing with respect to getting to work and class and then getting home at night. This week, I managed to leave my car at home four out of five work days. I'm starting to recognize faces on the bus, so there is definitely a healthy community of mass transit commuters.

The more I do in this footprint reduction lifestyle change, the more I realize that everything I do is about improving the quality of my life, not taking something away. By taking the bus, I know I'm doing something about taking a car off the road and the associated carbon emissions and waste from being a one-person in the car commuter. But that almost doesn't matter... I enjoy taking the bus, seeing new people, passively buzzing along without having to worry about icy road conditions (even now in late March!), deep axle snapping potholes, burning $30 of gas a week, or finding a parking spot!

I find have a bit more awake time before arriving at work and I'm able to use the time to plan my day, do a little bit of meditation, or just feel like a part of a bigger community. Did I mention that I'm saving about $30 a week in gas and reducing the associated CO2?

As a small-to-medium-sized city like Halifax continues to grow, improvements to this system are essential. There is no need to be considering additional bridges or tunnels into the downtown core when only about 10% of people use the available transit system. In fact, more people walk to work! How do we change the car culture when 75% or more of commuters use their cars to get to work daily?