In my previous blog post I reviewed the book, Building a Better World in your Backyard Instead of Being Angry at Bad Guys, by Paul Wheaton and Shawn Klassen-Koop. As part of that review I noted that I thought this would be an excellent selection for book discussion groups. It is relatively short, easy, and entertaining to read. The authors prime intended audience are those with little to no experience with ecological/environmental matters though I feel it would of useful interest to those more versed in the subject too. This should help make it appropriate for all that might be a part of such book groups. The material covers a wide range of subject matter offering many ways for everyone to connect to it. I would anticipate lively conversations sparked by the book.
Continue reading “Book Group Discussion Questions for Building a Better World in your Backyard Instead of Being Angry at Bad Guys”Category: Energy
Posts related to energy savings or use.
Building a Better World in Your Backyard Instead of Being Angry at Bad Guys – Book Review
Sometime in my childhood I seem to have taken on an environmentalist bent. I’m not sure quite when or why. It just seemed like the right thing to do and support, and still does. Thus, in my time I’ve read a lot of books, and watched hours upon hours of movies relating to this general genre. Despite all this information that has been out in the public sphere these past decades I’ve also watched things continue to decline. Who remembers the days when any sort of serious car trip involved stopping occasionally to scrape bug guts off the windshield so you could see out? When was the last time you REALLY needed to do that, and what does that say about the health of insect populations? If you’ve got enough years under your belt I imagine you can think of plenty of other similar examples yourself. So it would seem that all these past books and materials promoting environmental ideas haven’t been effective enough to overcome the increasing tides of destruction. Now here I am looking to review another book. Is yet one more going to be any different?
Continue reading “Building a Better World in Your Backyard Instead of Being Angry at Bad Guys – Book Review”Off-grid Solar Living When There is No Sun
The weather forecast for my area tomorrow is looking pretty ugly! The rain could be starting just about anytime this evening and continuing through the night. At some point Saturday it’s supposed to transition into snow as the precipitation continues unabated into the early hours of Sunday, with as much as 6 inches of the white stuff predicted to accumulate. The catch here is that transition stage where the ice is supposed to come. Lots and lots of ice, freezing rain accumulating to as much as 3/4 inch of ice. It’s the ice that really causes the problems around here. We can generally deal with rain and snow just fine. Should this ice storm come to pass there will probably be lots of downed trees and plenty of people without power tomorrow. Being off-grid and generating all my own power through solar panels, downed power lines aren’t likely to cause me issues. Ironically though it was still looking like I would be powerless during the storm, just for different reasons.
Continue reading “Off-grid Solar Living When There is No Sun”So how much is in a cord of wood?
As anyone who heats with firewood knows wood is generally measured in cords, but you also would know a cord is a pretty fuzzy measurement. Technically a full cord is a stack 4 feet high by 4 feet deep by 8 feet long. The problem is every time you stack that pile of logs it will sit a bit differently altering the gaps between pieces and thus changing the overall volume of the pile. Then there is the other issue that how much potential heat energy in that pile also depends on what type of wood it is, how dry it is, and so on.
Continue reading “So how much is in a cord of wood?”Being a Chimney Sweep with a Rocket Mass Heater
The leaves have turned color and the air has become cool. This also means the house is getting chilly, needing some heat for comfort. During these edge seasons when the skies are not overcast and the sun is shining bright I’m generally able to take advantage of all the excess electric power my off grid solar system generates and heat my place with a couple electric space heaters. Once my battery bank is full this surplus power just goes to waste otherwise, so I might as well utilize it. However, the days are going to be getting cloudy and overcast in my region due to the proximity of Lake Michigan and the effect it has on the weather. It’s also going to get much colder. So I’ll soon be feeding the small dragon in my living room that is my rocket mass heater.
Continue reading “Being a Chimney Sweep with a Rocket Mass Heater”The 3 E’s part two: the micro/personal level view
In my last post I explored the 3 E’s (the Economy, Energy, and the Environment) from a wide scale macro viewpoint. This time I want to look at them a bit from the micro view, or that of my own personal household. It might not be a bad idea to reread the previous post, but as a brief recap we have economic systems that require continuous exponential growth to function well. Continuous exponential growth requires a continuous exponential extraction and consumption of energy resources, in particular fossil fuels, as well as a continuous exponential consumption of environmental resources. In other words, endless growth on a finite planet. There are strong indications we are at peak extraction rates for our planetary fossil energy and environmental resources.
Continue reading “The 3 E’s part two: the micro/personal level view”The 3 E’s: Economy, Energy, Environment
This afternoon I was outside splitting firewood in preparation for winter heating. As my body worked my mind got some exercise as well thinking about how to approach this post about the 3E’s, those being the economy, energy, and the environment. I’ve been promising to write more about this pretty much since I started this blog a few months ago because it is such an important framework I use to understand what is really going on around me and to help guide my decisions. The aim is to better take advantage of the opportunities available to me now and leave me better positioned for our likely future.
Continue reading “The 3 E’s: Economy, Energy, Environment”Heating during the edge seasons
Yesterday while I was chasing away on my latest vessel I realized I hadn’t had a fire in the rocket mass heater all week, nor has the regular propane forced air furnace turned on in probably a month, yet I was comfortably warm! That got me to ruminating a bit about heating my home in what I think of as the edge seasons, those periods in spring and fall when some heating is still needed, but not a lot. I had intended this to be the post for yesterday, but while I did manage to finish chasing that vessel I obviously didn’t manage to get the post written. So here today instead I’ll share some thoughts, observations, and ideas about heating in edge seasons.
Continue reading “Heating during the edge seasons”Building a Better World in your Backyard instead of being angry at bad guys
Final Update (I think). The book is now done and available in print, ebook, and as an audiobook. If you are interested in purchasing a copy you can do so here.
Update. The campaign just ended with phenomenal success! A total of 2768 people supported it with $153,983.05! Thanks to all of you who joined me in helping make it all happen. If you missed out I’ll be sure to make one more update to this post when the book has gone through the final editing processes, been printed, and is available for anyone to purchase. Odds are good I’ll do another blog post too reviewing the book after I’ve got my copy and read the whole thing.
So I’ve known the Kickstarter campaign to get this book printed was coming up for months now. I’m excited to see it finally happen! Paul Wheaton and Shawn Klassen-Koop have been working on this for over a year. I’ve read a few sections they’ve shared in various threads on the Permies.com forums and it looks like it should be an excellent book that is essentially right along the lines of what I’m aiming to do with this blog.
Continue reading “Building a Better World in your Backyard instead of being angry at bad guys”An Incredible Tool for Splitting Kindling
I just finished making what is known as a kindling splitter today, and oh my goodness is this a freaking amazing tool! Anyone out there who has a wood burner or uses kindling should probably think seriously about acquiring one. It makes the tedious, dangerous job of splitting wood into smaller sized “kindling” pieces quick, easy, and MUCH safer.
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