... just wrote a page describing how to make a kitchen scrap compost container which keeps flies and smells out which costs less than $5.
Enjoy!
Posts Tagged ‘food’
How to make a kitchen scrap compost container
Friday, September 18th, 2009Greentheo's workout plan update
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
A few months ago I wrote about my plan for working out and getting healthy. It's been about 2 monhts and I thought that I'd give you all an update about whether it's been working or not.
First let me say that I've not followed my own advice that well. In fact I'd estimate that I only lived up to about 70% of what I called for in my workout, eating and living plan.
However, the one thing that I have done 100% well is allowed myself the freedom to not live up to my plan 100%. This has kept me involved, encouraged and continuing in my effort for progress.
Some stats:
- Workout Plan Begin Date: June 2009
- Current Date: Sept 2009
- Starting Weight: 194-196 lbs
- Current Weight: 180-182 lbs
- # of Times I've felt more hungry than usual: 0
- Stress level June: Medium
- Stress level now: Low
- Overall Productivity June: Medium High
- Overall Productivity Now: Medium Low
- Workout Frequency June: 3 days/week
- Workout Frequency Now: 2 days/week
- Average workout Frequency over the last 2 months: ~1 day/week, ~1 hour per workout
- Number of 14ers and difficult hikes this summer: 4
- Number of meals eaten from my garden: ~20
- Number of pizza slices eaten in the last 2 weeks: ~15
- Number of days walking or riding >2 miles: 3 days/week
Along with these stats I'd also like to report that for a period of 3 weeks I went to Costa Rica and didn't purposefully excercise one time. Also my non-fish meat consumption has dropped from 5 meals a week to <2 per week. The prevalance of whole grain rice has increased greatly and so has the amount of legumes. Butter intake has increased and other dairy decreased.
So there you have it... I've lost about 15 pounds, have decreased stress but also have lost a bit of productivity which is likely due to my higher contentment with life[1]. Does my plan work? I think it works for me.
- counter to intuition I beleive the happier one is, the less likely long and dedicated hours will be spent trying to get ahead... productivity therefore decreases slightly [↩]
In case of disaster...
Thursday, August 20th, 2009What would you do if our first rate sewage system was destroyed in some apocalyptic disaster?
I'm sure that few of us ever really stop think, "Where does all that poo go anyway".
Can you imagine what your neighborhood would start to smell like?
Luckily, nature has provided yet another simple solution... human waste composting! While the stuff you flush down the toilet is toxic and should not ever again see the light of day, when properly seperated, mixed with carbanaceous material like shredded junk mail[1] the aerobic bacteria naturally found in poo will cause it to decompose into that well known substance... soil!
To learn more, read this comprehensive online guide to human waste composting.
- this is the ultimate identity theft protector... one need never worry about thieves stealing junk and unwanted mail again! [↩]
Greentheo's green workout plan
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009A major part of a healthy lifestyle is excersize. But for every active and healthy person there is at least one excersize and diet philosophy. I thought I'd contribute my healthy and 'green' lifestyle and exercise ideas as well for any who might be interested.
Quick Summary
Over the years I've done many different types of workouts. I've spent hours in the weight room (oh come on, we all wanted humongo pecs at at the age of 15 right?), to hours at the dojo and quite a few team and singular sports including football, soccer and basketball. However, the most effective work-out simply is:
- 2-3 hours a week of more intense intense excersize.
- Doing only those excersizes that your body (not your narcissistic brain) asks you to do.
- Eating those things which your body asks you to eat in order to feed it and energize it to adequate levels.
First things first...
Proper excersize will not be possible without a good diet. Again let's keep it simple and natural. I recommend that the following diet be implimented immediately:
- Eat everything your body asks you to eat, no exceptions. Try to think about it as little as possible.
- Okay one exception. Eat as much USDA organic foods as possible... if you body wants chocolate, feed it organic rich happy chocolate and eat all you actually want... but no more than. Want 2 plates of spaghetti for dinner? Eat it... you'll have a tremendous source of energy for your next workout. Pizza... do it! Just make it organic and high quality. Don't even look at the label on the back it will only confuse your poor brain which in the end has very little on-the-fly analytic capabilities. If we can't even hold more than 7 to 9 digits in our minds easily why should we be able to analyze something as complex as all the nutrients we need and want?[1]
- For every non-water beverage you consume drink the equivalent amount in plain ol' water.
- When hungry or thirsty, immediately drink a glass of water.
A workout guide
As with my guide to eating right let's try to keep the workout philosophy simple too.
- Listen to your body. If your body wants less exercise, rest it. If it wants more, go a bit harder. The main thing is to do what your body asks, not what your narcissistic and confused brain thinks it needs to do to be the Olympian/model/He-Man it desires to be.
- Too much time in the gym is inefficient. Keep your overall excersize time at about 3 hours per week.
- 2 gym workouts per week and 1 playing workout[2] is plenty to keep strong and fit.
- Your "playing" workout should always be done with a friend. It's just much more fun that way and it builds a bond faster than most anything except well... "working out" with your spouse
- For your gym workouts I suggest 1 hour workouts composed of 20 minutes of stretching, 20 minutes of intense cardio, and 20 minutes of upper body weight training.
- Stretching is so important it should be#1 on this list. Always stretch, and always stretch each muscle group for 2 times as many seconds as your age. Your joints and muscles will thank you when you get to the nursing home one day.
- Weight training should be done slowly with 1-2 minutes of rest in between sets, no more than 4 different weight training activities in your 20 minute period should be performed... 3 is ideal.
- No long distance running. Your joints can't take it. I know a few long distance nuts who can barely walk these days. And it's not even that great of a workout in the end.
- If running is desired, try sprinting in the grass... and show some respect for the grass: take your shoes off. Doesn't that feel good? Consider that sprinting 17 x 100 yard dashes at an average time of 15 seconds each sprint is like running a 4:15 mile ... seriously ... only Ethiopians and horses can run that fast.
- Enjoy your activity whatever it is. If you don't like it, try something else until you find something that excites you. Currently I'm really excited about downhill mountain biking... I've rarely had so much fun or strength training for my calves and quads!
Last thoughts
When we listen to what our bodies want we will often be surprised by its desire for good things. Working out and eating are no exception. We were made to desire the good things of the earth and to enjoy recreation and liesure. Go ahead... enjoy the good food, excercize and activities that God intended for you!
and we're back...
Monday, June 29th, 2009It's been a few weeks since last greentheo had something to post. Yep... been kind of busy working in the garden. So far I've had all the lettuce come in along with the Spinach.. so delicious. The peas are forming their little pods, the squash are flowering and starting to form their little bulbous fruits, and the green beans are climbing the mammoth sunflowers as hoped.
But perhaps most importantly, Christmas has come early this year. Colorado now allows rain harvesting!
Finally, my law breaking lifestyle has come to an end and I can legally use the water collected from my roof.
I bet grey-water systems will be up next for review.
Happy Gardening and summer fun to you all!
What to Invest in?
Monday, April 20th, 2009With all the economic mayhem happening these days you might be wondering... "where can I put my money so that it will":
- never lose 50% of it's value over night
- beat inflation and a little more
- remain highly liquidatable in case of emergency
- remain usable in case of apocalypse and total societal breakdown
The idea most people have in regard to savings and investment is to develop a security blanket.
The Chinese government is thinking the same thing as it pushes for a new super sovereign currency[1].
So I came across this article which says to put your money in:
- 25% in U.S. stocks, to provide a strong return during times of prosperity.
- 25% in long-term U.S. Treasury bonds, which do well during prosperity and during deflation (but which do poorly during other economic cycles).
- 25% in cash in order to hedge against periods of “tight money” or recession.
- 25% in precious metals (gold, specifically) in order to provide protection during periods of inflation.
But I disagree... let's look at the options.
U.S. Stocks
A diversified and broad selection of US stocks from the S&P 500 (the 500 largest companies in America) is a very safe and prosperous bet over the long term. American companies have been and will continue to be some of the most innovative companies on the planet. While some industries wane, others will wax. Furthermore, the NYSE, NASDAQ and other trading arenas have some of the highest traffic, nearly guaranteeing a buyer for every seller. My recommendation is to definitely put money in US stocks by purchasing index funds like the S&P 500 index.
The main advantages of US stocks is:
- Tracks with the US economy at large thus making the investment a hedge against inflation.
- A diversified portfolio does spread risk effectively.
- Stocks are not officially govt backed, but as we've seen... the larger the company the more likely subsidies and govt. protections will be involved.
- In booms and busts stocks can do well (Countrywide in the boom went way up, Netflix in the bust tripled).
To this I'd also like to add that European stock indexes are overall quite similar in advantage to the US. Essentially, if the US and Europe can't make it... nobody can.
Long Term Treasury Bonds
These are also very safe investments in the near and far term. They are extremely safe (if the govt defaults on it's loans then cashing out your bonds will be the least of your worries), and dependable.
But they have 2 very serious downsides.
- Buying a bond today for 30 years locks in an interest rate. Inflation may rise, but the interest rate wont.
- Many of the 'worst case scenarios' possible would render government bonds illiquid (same is mostly true for stocks).
Money Markets and 'Cash'
Cash and money markets are extremely liquid. They are not much more than a savings account with a low interest rate. And even though they are extremely safe, like treasury bills they:
- Don't protect against inflation
- Don't have a very high growth rate
- Many of the 'worst case scenarios' would render the fiat money in the money market account nearly useless
Gold!
Perhaps the most misleading of investment vehicles is Gold. It is a widely held belief that in times of great disaster gold or precious metals would be the only 'super-sovereign' currency. The belief is supported by the thought that humans assign inherent worth to gold. They don't!
Furthermore, it is believed that gold hedges against inflation. Because of the first assumption, that gold is inherently worth something, we think that gold must track with inflation on a nearly 1:1 basis.... it doesn't!
Thus gold has the following drawbacks:
- It doesn't hedge against inflation:
- Most of the demand for Gold comes from Jewelry and for making into bouillon coins. In bad times it will become an illiquid commodity.
- It's growth is low on average.
- It's easy to steal ($20k of gold is far easier to steal than $20k of stocks)
- In time of great chaos it doesn't provide the function of a super-sovereign currency...real goods do[2]. Furthermore, if everyone used Gold as currency in the 'bad-times' rampant inflation would occur relative to the supply of gold in circulation... thus rendering moot the potential of Gold to serve as a currency.
Gold is perhaps one of the most worthless investments in the market unless you know something about the supply and demand cycle of Gold.
So What's Left?
The following is a list of investments that I believe have the highest safety, return and hedge against inflation and Chaos. It's difficult to say what the % of your portfolio should be in each area... so no percent is given.
- U.S and European stocks are highly liquid, move with inflation but are not nuclear-apocalypse proof. A good place to put money.
- Housing Rental Income - barring a communist take over (and even with one), people need a place to live. The income tracks with inflation, but can be depressed in a housing glut or in a very low interest rate time period. Regardless, housing is the largest purchase that the average person can make. It's subsidized by the government in many ways and gives a large store of capital which appreciates with inflation plus a little. Add on to that the rents received over time and housing rental income can be a very good, safe and reliable investment.
- Education - the bulk of one's lifetime wealth comes from wages. It is well established that wage level is tied in with education level. Plus learning thins like farming, mechanics, and carpentry could either give a little extra cash when needed or provide post-apocalypse survival skills.
- Family - Price of going to the nursing home for retirement... $50k/year. Cost of living with a family you love and who loves you back until you die[3]... priceless. Blood ties run thick and they're worth having.
- Community/Friends/Civics - Nothing hedges against loneliness, hard times and even financial struggle than friends and a surrounding community. By involving yourself in Civics you could also have a chance to set policies and change tax codes that directly affect your financial well being. It only costs time.
- Land - As Lex Luther said in Super Man... they only thing they aren't making any more of is land. Rather than putting money into gold, put it into arable farm land.
- Religion - Hey, this life might not be all there is right? Better find the truth about the metaphysical world... and supposing that God is an active and personal God then it might not be so bad to have him on your side no matter the circumstance. I hear it can be good for your health too.
There you have it, the Greentheo plan to fail proof investments that do grow over time.
- China has been running enormous dollar surpluses to keep the yuan-dollar ratio low. This keeps goods flowing to America and it's economy growing more rapidly in the short term. It also gave America extremely cheap credit. [↩]
- what do starving people need with Gold? nothing... what they need is food and other "real goods" [↩]
- assuming you don't annoy the Hell out of them in your crotchety old age [↩]
How to build a cheap rain barrel with drip distribution system for < $30
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009After recently completing my Solar heater, it was time to embark on a new project... rain collection and redistribution for my garden.
Colorado is a wonderful place to live, but it can also be quite arid and moisture free. Thus, to grow many of the vegetables we know and love to eat, plenty of outside water is commonly used. But it sure can get expensive! Last summer my bill averaged $50-$75/month just for water![1]
So how much water can you collect from rain and snow anyway?
For every 1000 sq. ft of roof on your house one can collect:
- 144 sq. inch / sq. ft. X 1000 sq. ft. = 144,000 sq. inches
- 1 inch of rain X 144,000 sq. inches = 144,000 cubic inches of water
- 144,000 X 0.004 gallons / cubic inch = 576 gallons
On average, Boulder, Colorado get's about 19 inches of moisture... and thus my 1000 sq. ft roof can collect with it's pre existing gutter, about 11,000 gallons of water.
How much is practical to store for your garden?
While this depends on your particular garden, the answer is that it's practical to store as much wat as you'll reasonably use over a week's time. For a more practical calculation consider the rule of thumb that your plants want to get about 1 inch of rain per week.
My garden is 150 sq. ft (and growing) so I want to have 150*144*1*.004 = 86 gallons available on demand. Luckily I happen to have 3X55 gallon drums on hand giving me 165 gallons, 82.5 for watering... and 82.5 for storing for the next week.
So the rule of thumb turns out to be: 1/2 gallon per square foot of garden = 1 inch of water/week.
Other design considerations
I currently am cultivating ~150 sq. ft. But I'd like to add another 50-100 sq. ft. so I'd also like to be able to store my rain holding capacity appropriately. By the above calculation I know that every 50 sq. ft is properly served by a 55 gallon drum. Therefore the design of the rain storage and redistribution system should accomodate the adding of future drums.
Materials
- 3 - 55 gallon drums - food grade ~ $20/each, free if you know where to look or have nice friends
- 2 - 4' sections of flexible pipe ~ $5, or free if you look around
- 1 - 3/4" male threaded PVC bung type fitting ~ $0.50
- 1 - 3/4" female thread to garden hose thread fitting ~ $0.50
- 1 - garden hose on off valve ~ $2
- 1 - male garden hose to male garden hose adapter ~ $5
- 1 - (optional) - automatic water metering valve ~ $15
- 1 - garden hose to dripline attachment, or , drip hose ~ $1, $10
- 1 - dripline with drip buttons at .5 gph rating ~ $5
Total: as little as $15, as much as $95
The finished design
Here we have 3 food grade 55 gallon plastic drums. The black pipe runing between the three barrels (all the way to the bottom of either barrel) is for auto-siphoning between the barrels. When the barrel at the end of the spout fills, the water is automatically siphoned to the the second barrel... when both are full, the water siphons to the third.. etc. Furthermore, once the whole system is full, any change in level in one barrel is distributed evenly to all the rest provided that the siphon is not broken.
Step 1 - Site the area for storage and collection
Take a look around your proposed garden and water storing area. The best areas are ones that:
- can easily collect water from the gutters of your roof
- are mostly out of the way
- are closer to your garden
- are more elevated than your garden
Step 2 - Put a bung in the barrel
Drill a one inch hole in the last barrel near the bottom. Water leaves the system here.
Step 3 - Insert the male threaded PVC bung
Step 4 - Using silicon caulk, make a bead around the outside of the bung and let it dry. Make sure that the femail pvc thread to garden hose thread can screw on first.
Step 5 - Screw on the female PVC to garden hose adapter.. the silicon caulk should act like a custom molded washer or gasket preventing leaking.
Step 6 - Screw in the stop valve, the male to male adapter and the water meter (if you'd like)
Step 7 - Screw on the drip line or drip hose.
Step 8 - Drill 1 inch hole on the both sides near the top of any of the intermediate barrels. Should be near the top, but not at the top. An auto-siphon only works when the level of the water threatens to rise above the siphon point.
Step 9 - Drill 1, 1 inch hole at the top of the entrance and exit barrels.
Step 10 - Move barrels to site.
Step 11 - Insert auto-siphon tubes between barrels. Make sure it goes down as far as possible into each barrel.
Step 12 - Attach entrance barrel to gutter and wait for rain!
Summary
A rain barrel is a great addition to any garden. Not only do they lower the cost of gardening but they also help out your municipal water district by lowering the demand for water. They can be cheap and easy to build in such a way that they mostly act autonomously, distributing water slowly to your garden at a preset drip rate.
Now if only it would rain or snow around here!
- And I know I wasn't over watering because I only ran the sprinkler system inthe backyard for 5 minutes every day in the morning... and that's it. [↩]
Wasted fruit and vegetables = pollution from 20% of cars in Brittain
Thursday, February 26th, 2009From the Times in Brittain:
An analysis of bin contents from 2,000 homes in 11 local authority areas has shown that a mountain of wasted fruit and vegetables is being created across Britain.
Full results of the survey are to be published next month, but its initial findings show that food waste accounts for 40 per cent of all household rubbish.
Besides apples, households are also dumping 5.1 million potatoes a day, 2.8 million tomatoes, 1.6 million bananas, and 1.2 million oranges. These were not scraps or peelings but whole items in good condition.
Wrap revealed before Christmas that about 6.7 million tonnes of food a year is dumped in bins. This represents a third of all food bought for consumption at home and is worth a total of £8 billion, or an average £400 for every household.
However, by preventing this scale of food waste about 15 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year would be saved, the equivalent of taking one in five cars off the roads.
As I said yesterday... composting (or even better eating what you buy) can save the world!
Top 5 extremely cheap steps to living a more sustainable way
Friday, February 20th, 2009My friend once asked me what the word sustainable meant in the context of society and humanity. My reply was that it was:
"The ability for an organism or organization to perpetuate itself and it's progeny over time"
But how to accomplish such a large goal without breaking the bank?
Below are my top 5 cheapest and most effective goals towards becoming a more sustainable society and person.
- Composting - the number one cheapest solution to waste management, healthy food production and greenhouse gas reduction. When food goes to a landfill it takes with it valuable nutrients. Furthermore, as it decomposes in the oxygenless environment of a landfill it releases Methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more 'greenhousey' than Co2. And even if you don't have a garden, or friend with a garden, to put the compost in, you can always spread it around some trees at the park... I'm sure they'll appreciate it!
- Insulation - Insulating our houses and building will keep the hot air in (or out). It's one of the simplest technologies around and when applied correctly is extremely cheap.
- Solar/geothermal heating and Cooling - Sunny climates can get most of their warmth through the winter from the sun, and dry climates can get most of their cooling needs from evaporative cooling in the summer. If an extra step is taken, warm or cool water from the earth can be used to modify the temperature of a house or building as well. Cooling and Heating our buildings is the #1 usage of energy in the world.
- Walking/Biking for transportation - it may not be suitable for commuting on snowy or blisteringly hot days, or for trips greater than 3 or 4 miles. But that's okay because the vast majority of trips we make are < 2 miles and in places like CO there are over 300 sunny days a year. Walking is free and enjoyable! Biking is almost as cheap.
- Micro Farming - aka gardening. Participting in growing your own food (if only even for a few tomatoes) is perhaps the most beneficial and cheap green activity. It teaches you about: soil health; what it takes to grow food; what it takes to use water efficiently; how much work goes into getting a return on your investment; and finally it teaches you to be much more conservative with your food purchasing and consumption. One quickly realizes how what goes into the soil, goes into the plant and ultimately into us! It also helps to really learn the old maxim: waste not want not.
Enjoy your cheap sustainable life!
Greentheo says no to GMO...
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009The debate over genetically modified organisms, usually in reference to food almost always centers around whether or not GMO foods are healthy[1], will cause environmental collapse[2] or become the answer to the world's hunger problems[3].
But the debate almost always overlooks 3 key topics that must be addressed before we really begin pushing GMO foods:
- Are GMO's patentable?
- If GMO's are patentable how patentable and who can enforce the patents?
- Can GMO's become an agricultural monopoly, and if so is it a good thing?
It is taken for granted in the Western world that property is privatizeable. If I can fence it in I can own it. If I can invent it, document it and get to the patent office first... I can own it. If I can describe it (without inventing it) and be the first one to the patent office... I can own even the idea of it[4]
Unfortunately under US law, the same applies not only to inventions and intellectual property like software, poetry, and etc... but now also to living organisms, DNA and otherwise genetic material. If you can describe the genetic code, you can own it (except for humans, for now). Several companies are rushing to patent every possible living organism, including giraffes, birds and trees.
But perhaps the most frightening aspect is that in addition to patenting any organism, one can patent relatives of the organism as well. Since the patents cover genetic code and genetic code transfers when the organism reproduces, then if I can show that the offspring of my patented organism contains enough of the original genetic code I can retain rights to the offspring as well.
In practice it is already becoming an issue. Companies like Monsanto who are determined to own all of creation are enforcing property rights with small farmers who may be unwittingly using their genetic material. In this case, a Canadian canola farmer claims that a neighbor's GMO crops cross polinated with his strain of canola. The non-GMO crops set seed, were collected and then reused the next year. Companies like Monsanto don't hesitate for a moment to collect their due from these little guys who go around 'stealing' their intellectual property.
It's not hard to see that if left unchecked, GMO genetic material could make it's way into every crop, every plant and eventually into every living animal. By law then, they could demand 'rights' to every bit of agriculture in the US, and perhaps the world.
And that's why I say no to GMO. It's simply too tempting for a company like Monsanto to try and gain a monopoly on agriculture. If they succeed it truly could be disastrous for the country and the world's food supply.
- likely they aren't much different than food grown from gamma rayed seeds or cross bred plants [↩]
- it is somewhat likely that a super weed could pop up and destroy crops worldwide [↩]
- as rich farmland decreases more and more marginal soils have to be used they might help [↩]
- just ask Research in Motion how they feel about that. [↩]
