Sometimes it's easy being green
Well, it was a great weekend for green thinking in the Porter household. Not much action, but lots of great planning.
Friday night, Tim learned that I can make sausage from scratch using an inexpensive attachment for our mixer. As my interest in eating less processed, more local food increases, this could come in handy. Especially if I figure out how to make Chinese sausage.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ea/episode/0,1976,FOOD_9956_23484,00.html
Then we both learned how to build an energy efficient house out of used tires, earth and concrete. No, we're not going to be building a new home anytime soon... but it was an interesting idea for the future. I already have most of the floor plan in my head.
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hwext/episode/0,2756,HGTV_24336_51023,00.html
Saturday, after attending our intro session at our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Tim and I began to discuss the possibility of getting me a solar powered 4 season green house. This turned into a discussion of getting solar panels for our house! We're still researching this and many questions still loom (will this effect our resale value positively or negatively?) but we both agree it is worth looking into.
Then reading on Sunday Tim found an interesting article on "Phantom Load". This is the energy cost of appliances you are not using. Cell phone chargers plugged in but not charging anything. Every appliance with a clock (Microwave, DVD Player, ect ect ect), and many other appliances. I've seen articles about organization behind unplugged days, where all participants pick a day and unplug everything in their house. I think a more reasonable, everyday solution is to pay attention to what you can unplug. Since learning about phantom load Tim and I unplug our microwave, cell phone chargers, hair dryer, Stereo and a few other appliances, except for when they are in use.
http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2007/06/10/the_phantom_menace?p1=email_to_a_friend