by Ethan Pulka

Energy-saving tips for your home, great for saving money and the planet.

Home Perimeter
Windows

Windows allow the transfer of heat and are typically the most vulnerable part of your structure’s envelope.

• Double hung, single hung and horizontal sliding windows are especially prone to leaks since they must slide in order to operate creating a poor seal. During the heating season, when windows will remain closed use temporary or reusable putty caulk to seal gaps. It can be removed at winter’s end.

 

• Single-pane windows have very little insulating value. Double- and triple-pane windows provide much higher insulating value because the extra glass and air space resist heat flow.

• If your windows are older and not energy efficient, reduce heat loss through windows in the following ways:
  - As soon as the sun goes down, go through the house and close shades and curtains.

- During the day, open all the shades and curtains, except those on north-facing windows, to take advantage of solar heat gain.
- Install seasonal storm windows. Storm windows can reduce your heat loss through the windows by 25% to 50%.

• Aluminum window frames causes conductive heat loss and are prone to condensation.

 

• To reduce heat gain through inefficient windows:
  - Install exterior-mounted sunscreens at South and West-facing windows.
  - Plant seasonal shade trees on the South and West sides of the house.
  - Install awnings or overhangs outside at South and West-facing windows. The awnings should be deep enough to shade windows from the high summer sun, but not so deep as to shade the windows from the lower winter sun.

• Installing treatments like shades or curtains will increase the R-value (insulating value) of windows when treatments are closed, reducing heat gain or loss.

 

• Arrange furniture to take advantage of cross breezes from open windows.

• Apply caulk to all joints in the window frame and the joint between the frame and the wall as a general precaution against leaks

.

• At night, turn off AC units and open up windows to let cool air in. In the morning, close all windows to trap cool air inside.

Doors
Very few doors shut perfectly with no air gaps. Several products are available from hardware stores to fill gaps of variable sizes.

• Apply caulk to all joints between the door frame and the wall to stop leaks.
• If you can see light or feel air through the joints between the door and its frame, install weather stripping to fill the gap.
• Gaps between the door and the floor can be elminated either with floor mounted theshholds or door-mounted gaskets or sweeps.

Insulation
If you are unsure of what insulation you have, a qualified home energy auditor can identify the amount of insulation you have and need. Here are some general guidelines for insulating your homes envelope:

• R-value recommendations
  
  - Attic, 38
  
  - Exterior wood frame wall cavity, 13 or 15 if 2×4 wall, 21 if 2×6 wall
  
  - Floor, 25 (Over unheated, uninsulated space)
  
  - Crawl space wall, 19 (Crawl space walls are only insulated if the crawl space is unvented and the floor above the crawl space is uninsulated.)
  
  - Basement wall, 11

• Types of insulation:
  
  - Cellulose-blow-in made from recycled paper
  
  - Cotton batting made from recycled denim
  
  - Formaldehyde-free fiberglass
  
  - Recycled-content fiberglass
  
  - Soy-based foam

Penetrations

• Fill gaps around plumbing and other penetrations in your ceilings, walls and floors.
• Keep your fireplace damper closed when not it use to reduce home heat loss.

Exterior

• Shade trees, window awnings and exterior solar shades can all help to minimize your homes solar heat gain on hot days.

Bathroom
Inside the home, we use the most water in our bathrooms. That makes sense, since almost every activity in the bathroom requires water. To save water in the bathroom, replace the outdated fixtures that waste water and modifying habits that contribute to unnecessary water use.
Toilets

• Toilets that predate the 1994 federal water usage standard of 1.6 gallons use from 3.5 to 6 gallons per flush. The dilemma is, toilets can last up to 50 years! Why replace a perfectly good, functioning toilet? If you’re willing to modify an old toilet so it will consume less water, by all means keep it. You can buy a number of gadgets from your home improvement store to correct the overuse of water.
• Don’t hang on to an old toilet because you think conserving toilets aren’t effective. Toilet technology has improved since those first low-flow models. Installing a standard 1.6 gallon per flush toilet, or better yet, a high efficiency toilet (HET) that uses 1.3 gallons per flush can save a household of four 16,000 gallons of water a year.
• A dual flush conserving toilet allows you to select a full 1.6-gallon flush for solids or a half-flush (0.8 gallons) for liquids.
• Don’t flush garbage down the toilet. This isn’t just a waste of water: Flushing unnecessary solids requires more maintenance and more energy for proper treatment at the sewage plant.
• Fix leaks immediately once you detect them. In most cases, you will simply want to replace the toilet flapper or the filling mechanism. These are available at hardware stores and home centers for cheap. If replacing either of these does not correct your leak, consult a plumber. A leak that goes unfixed can waste 200 gallons a day according to the EPA.

Bathing

• New shower heads use only 2.5 gallons of water per minute. Either install a new conserving shower head or install a water saving device which will cut water output by 50 percent while still delivering a satisfactory spray. These devices cost little, are easy to install and save a lot of water and money.
• Take more showers than baths. You use up to 25 gallons of hot water for a bath, but less than 12.5 gallons during a 5-minute shower with a 2.5 gpm showerhead.
• Install a shut off valve on your showerhead and turn the water off here when you are lathering up. The advantage of a valve is that it keeps the water (hot and cold) mixed while shut off.
• If you shower every day, or close to it, it may be more than necessary. Our frequency of bathing in the U.S. is based more on cultural standards and social pressures than hygiene. Everyone’s body reacts differently, so you and those close to you will be the judge of how often you need to bathe, but if you think you might be over bathing out of habit, you are losing more than precious water: bathing too frequently can dry out skin and kill beneficial bacteria on the skin’s surface.
• Use the exhaust fan during and after a shower to clear out moisture that can lead to mold and mildew growth. Close the shower curtain to eliminate folds where water can’t evaporate easily and let that fan run for a full ten minutes after you exit the shower.

At the Sink

• Adding an aerator to your faucet, if you don’t already have one, will restrict flow and save water ever time the faucet is turned on. Faucet aerators are rated for different flows so get the minimal flow available (1.5 gpm). They cost little and install easily.
• Leaving the water running while brushing your teeth, shaving and washing your face and hands isn’t necessary. For all these activities, the water should be running only when needed. Since even a low flow faucet will fill a one gallon basin in under a minute, the EPA estimates that a person can save more than 500 gallons of water per month by closing the tap while brushing teeth or shaving.
• Don’t ignore a dripping faucet or plumbing. A leak at the rate of one drop per second wastes 2,700 gallons per year.

Cleaning

• Conventional cleaning products designed for use in the bathroom can be especially dangerous to us and the environment because many of them rely on harsh chemicals to attack mildew, hard water deposits, soap scum and toilet bowl stains on contact. Instead, clean, disinfect and deordorize your entire bathroom with two simple ingredients: white vinegar and borax. Vinegar is a disinfectant, stain remover, soap scum dissovler, mildew eliminator, lime descaler, and deodorizer. (Vinegar’s smell dissappears as it evaporates.) Borax is a natural mineral that disinfects, deodorizes and inhibits mold growth.
• Fill a trigger-spray bottle with distilled white vinegar and fill a shaker can with borax. Use each alone or together, as follows, to clean the bathroom.
• Hardwater deposits: Using a spray bottle, spray straight vinegar onto areas affected by hardwater. Let sit 5 minutes and remoisten. Wait five more minutes, sprinkle with borax and scrub. Rinse well.
• Toilet bowl: Reuse the water level in the toilet bowl with a plunger. Sprinkle borax all around the toilet bowl ring and slightly moisten with a spritz of vinegar. Let sit for one hour and scrub.
• Soap scum: Spray with vinegar and wash away with hot water.
• General Cleaning: Use vinegar and warm water to clean every surface in the bathroom.

Laundry room
Reducing water and energy spent for washing and drying laundry requires choosing the right appliances and in some cases, changing the way we do laundry. 

Clothes Washers
According to ENERGYguide.com, a clothes washer—whether it is a Kenmore, Maytag, Electrolux, LG, etc.—in a typical household uses about 15,000 gallons of water per year or roughly 15% of the total household consumption.

• A standard top loading machine uses considerably more water and energy than newer front loaders. Front-loaders use a third to half the energy and water, and because they remove more water during the spin cycle, you’ll use less energy drying your clothes. They also clean clothes with a third the detergent needed for top loaders. Front loaders cost more than top loaders, but you can save approximately $100 a year in utilities due to the water and energy savings from using such a model.
• Energy Star labeled clothes washers use up to 50 percent less water and energy than conventional washers.

Water Temperature
Most of the energy used by clothes washers—80 to 85 percent—is used to heat the water.

• Wash loads in cold water most of the time. Today’s improved detergents don’t necessarily need warm water washes and rinses to work well.

Number of Loads
Reduce the number of loads you wash, and as a result water and energy use.

• Run only full loads.
• Wear your clothes and use towels and sheets a reasonable number of times or length of time before laundering. Examine and sniff your clothes to determine if they are truly in need of washing or just in need of a fluff or pressing. Generally, towels that are hung up to dry between uses can be used for a week. If you are clean when you lay down on your sheets at night, they can last a week or more without laundering.

Laundry Products
Conventional laundry powder can contain phosphates, synthetic perfumes and problematic chemicals.

• Use an earth-friendly brand of laundry soap or flakes that is phosphate free, chlorine free, nontoxic and biodegradable. Don’t let the slightly higher price you’ll pay for ”green” laundry powders or liquids deter you. Most are concentrated to deliver results with less product, so 10 lbs. of a concentrated powder can last 4 to 8 times as long as 10 lbs. of a non-concentrated powder. This is especially true if you have a high-efficiency washer which calls for less laundry soap/powder per load.
• Soap nuts (the fruit of the Chinese Soap Berry Tree) have been used for thousands of years in Asian cultures to clean clothes naturally. They contain saponin—a natural substance known for its ability to cleanse and wash, are low-sudsing (perfect for HE machines), and biodegradable.  Ask for them at your local health food store or shop for organically grown soap nuts online.

Conventional laundry whiteners contain chlorine bleach, a poisonous toxin. Chlorine and organ chlorines are released into the environment everyday where they can combine with other molecules to form new toxins that accumulate and last for years.

• Buy no chlorine whiteners such as those that use sodium percarbonate or hydrogen peroxide.

Conventional fabric softeners  and dryer sheets can contain harmful chemicals, and prolonged exposure to these chemicals can lead to health problems.  Below is a list of some of the chemicals to look out for:

• A-Terpineol: Can cause respiratory problems, including fatal edema, and central nervous system damage
• Benzyl acetate: Linked to pancreatic cancer
• Benzyl Alcohol: Upper respiratory tract irritant
• Ethanol: On the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Hazardous Waste list and can cause central nervous system disorders
• Ethyl Acetate: A narcotic on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list
• Camphor: Causes central nervous system disorders
• Chloroform: Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenic
• Limonene: The synthetic version is a known carcinogen
• Linalool: A narcotic that causes central nervous system disorders
• Pentane: A chemical known to be harmful if inhaled

• Static cling in the dryer is caused by dry clothes tumbling together and creating friction, which causes an exchange of negative and positive electrons—a perfect recipe for an electrical charge!  To reduce static cling in the dryer, don’t overdry clothes, and dry natural fibers separate from synthetic fibers. 
• Skip the dryer and dry clothes on a clothesline to eliminate static.  This especially makes sense for synthetic fibers that dry quickly in the open air.
• Reusable and chemical-free anti-static sheets are available through health food stores that sell laundry products.  A single sheet will last the typical family a year. 
• Add a 1/4 cup of baking soda or 1/4 cup of  white vinegar to the wash cycle to soften laundry.

Clothes Dryer

• An electric dryer is half as efficient as one that uses a gas burner to create heat. (Note: A gas dryer will still use some electricity to turn the drum and operate the fan.)
• Clothes dryers are neither part of Energy Star’s program nor are they required to display  EnergyGuide labels. What you can do is check for the highest energy factor number when comparing different models.
• Look for models with moisture sensors and cool-down features–both save energy.
• Locate your dryer in a heated space.
• Clean the lint filter in the dryer after every load.
• Use the straightest and shortest metal duct available for venting.

Drying

• The moisture sensor on a dryer is designed to automatically stop the dryer when clothes are “dry enough,” but to get the energy saving benefits, you must select the sensor setting to override the timed setting. The setting not only saves energy but eliminates “baked clothes” that will suffer the abuse of tumbling in excessive dry heat over time.
• Use a drying rack for delicate or lightweight items. Items that can and should be air dried include lightweight synthetics, all wool, all silk or wool/silk blend fabrics. Diverting such fabrics from the dryer will help lighten dryer loads for more rapid drying and extend the life of fabrics that will air-dry overnight.
• During the summer, dry clothes outside on a clothesline.

Appliance Operation

• Shifting appliance use to off-peak hours will help reduce pressure on our power grid during peak hours (peak-hour demand has the effect of convincing producers that more power plants should be built, when conservation and demand redistribution could easily solve energy needs). Run the washing machine and clothes dryer during off-peak hours. Off-peak hours are typically from 9 pm to 7 am. Your utility company may also offer off-peak energy rates, in which case you can save money by running appliances during lower rate periods. Call your utility company to find out if they offer off-peak rates and during what times.

Dry Cleaning
Most dry cleaners use perchloroethylene (PERC) to clean clothes, and it is toxic. The EPA says it contributes to the contamination of drinking water wells and is a suspected carcinogen.

• Instead of taking your garments labeled “DRY CLEAN ONLY” to the dry cleaners, consider professional wet cleaning instead. Professional wet cleaning is an effective and environment friendly alternative to cleaning many of the items you are now dry cleaning.

Kitchen
The kitchen is the center of so many daily activities. It’s high use and what goes on there makes the kitchen a catalyst for changes in water use, energy use, clean up, food selection, food preparation and storage. If you want to start greening your home one room at a time, the kitchen would be a good place to start.
Appliances

• Super efficient dishwashers are available that use as little as 5 gallons per load, and an Energy Star labeled model uses 25% less energy than the federal minimum standard.
• Use the settings your dishwasher provides to your advantage. Select the water-saving cycle for lightly soiled loads, and the no-heat dry setting every time. You’ll save water and energy with every load.
• Only run full loads. If you have a small number of dishes or pans to clean, wash them by hand. You’ll save the most water by filling a basin with just 2 to 3 inches of water, stacking the items as you wash them, then rinsing them quickly under a light stream of water.
• Refrigerators use more energy than any other kitchen appliance. Keeping it close to full will conserve energy because mass retains cold better than air.
• When buying a new fridge, those with a freezer on top are the most energy efficient. The least energy efficient is the side freezer type with through-the-door ice service.
• Keep your refrigerator close to 37 degrees Fahrenheit, and your freezer to 3 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t have an appliance thermometer, place a weather thermometer inside the compartment to check its temperature and adjust the dials until you achieve the desired temperature.
• For appliances not rated by Energy Star, use EnergyGuide lables to evaluate appliances for energy use and operating costs. Look for the yellow and black EnergyGuide labels to compare the yearly energy cost of operating different models. Kitchen appliances that carry the Energy Guide labels include refrigerators and refrigerator/freezers, freezers and dishwashers.

At The Sink

• If a home’s hot water heater is located far from the kitchen, considerable water will be wasted to draw hot water to the kitchen tap. A point-of-use hot water heater that installs under the kitchen sink can save water when doing kitchen chores.
• Many Americans have abandoned their tap in favor of bottled water, but consuming water from bottles is terribly wasteful. Installing a faucet-mounted or countertop water filter and thereby reclaiming the kitchen tap for drinking water can reduce lots of environmental impacts resulting from the transport and consumption of bottled water. (See Resources in the right margin.)
• Most people turn their kitchen faucet on at full pressure without thinking, and consequently lose lots of water, unnecessarily, down the drain. Unless you are filling a basin, get into the habit of turning the faucet on just enough to get a stream as wide as a straw. At this capacity, you could cut your water use by more than half.
• Washing dishes by hand can either save or waste water depending on how it’s done. To use water efficiently, fill a basin with just 2 to 3 inches of water, stack the items as you wash them, then rinse them quickly under a light stream of water.
• Use a liquid dish soap that is biodegradable and made without petro-chemicals or surfactants.

Supplies

• Disposable products are so commonplace now that the average person creates over 4 pounds of garbage a day! No places are disposables more present than in our kitchens. Paper towels, napkins and plates; plastic baggies and food wrap; single-use cleaning wipes–even disposable cutting boards! Breaking this reliance on single-use, disposable products will save money and reduce waste. Use cloth rags for spills and cloth napkins for meals. Reuse glass jars and plastic food tubs to store leftovers. And trust in the ability of soap and hot water to clean countertops and cutting boards.

Lighting

• Kitchens are usually a high use area in the home, and consequently, its light fixtures should be equipped with compact fluorescent bulbs which use about a quarter of the energy of incandescent bulbs.
• If you’re designing a kitchen, put lighting for the sink and island on separate circuits. This will give you the option of lighting work areas without lighting the entire kitchen.

Groceries

• Buy organic and transitional food products when possible. Organic growing methods protect soil, water supplies, biodiversity and animal health. If organically-certified produce and meats are out of reach–either due to price or availability, buy from farmers markets or a join a Community Supported Agriculture network. You’ll help support small, local farmers that typically practice sustainable agriculture.
• Packaging accounts for a large volume of the trash we generate. Buying brands that use less packaging and buying in bulk will help cut down on packaging waste.
• Use sturdy, reusable carriers to cart home groceries, preferable those made from hemp or organic fibers.
• Plastic produce and bulk food bags generally get overused contributing to unnecessary waste: use them sparingly and reuse them at the market. You could also purchase a set of lightweight reusable cloth bags that can replace plastic produce bags. Ecobags.com sells reusable bags for produce and bulk grains.
• harm aquatic ecosystems. Consume only those species recommended by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program. (See Resources in the right margin.)
• Try to eat less meat. Most of us have grown up on a meat-based diet, and this can be a hard habit to break, but a worthwhile one. All told, meat production is a leading contributor to deforestation, soil erosion and desertification, water scarcity and pollution, loss of biodiversity, depletion of fossil fuels and global warming.

Cooking

• Use the microwave for cooking and re-heating; a microwave is faster and more efficient than using the oven, thus reducing up to 70 percent of energy use. Or use the toaster oven for small jobs. It uses a third to half as much energy as a full-size oven. When you do use the oven, turn it off 10 to 15 minutes before cooking time runs out; food will continue to cook without using the extra electricity.
• Pressure cookers cook food in a fraction of the time if would take to cook them on the stovetop. The newer generations of pressure cookers are also easy and safe to use.

 Food Storage

• Cover liquids and foods stored in the refrigerator. Uncovered foods release moisture and make the compressor work harder.
• Food storage bags and plastic wrap are convenient, but not environmentally friendly. The propensity to rely on disposable, plastic storage solutions and the rate at which a typical household can easily go through them contributes to the overproduction of plastics and increased landfill material. Save empty glass jars and plastic food tubs for storing food instead (never reheat foods in these containers in the microwave). Not all storage needs will be met by reusable jars and tubs. For those situations when nothing but a reclosable plastic bag will do, you can now wash them in the dishwasher and reuse them with the help of a dishwasher attachment named Bag-E-Wash. (See Resources in the right margin.)
• When it comes to covering platters and bowls, use aluminum foil which is recyclable if cleaned first. To save it for another use, simply flatten and wipe off any food residue, fold, and store in the fridge. You can also use saucers and plates to cover bowls.
• If reused jars and plastic tubs don’t provide the capacity nor the visibility you want in food storage containers, invest in glass storage systems that you can see through, stack, reheat in, and even serve from! This will eliminate any reliance on plastic and foil for food storage and due to their multi-use qualities, cut down on the number of containers you have to wash. (See Resources in the right margin.)

Garbage

• Compost food scraps if you have the space to do so. The weight and volume of food scraps in American landfills is a costly and inefficient deposit of material that can degrade into rich compost for one’s garden in relatively little time. Many foods can be composted, including vegetable and fruit trimmings, eggshells, coffee grounds and tea bags.
• Using a garbage disposal requires lots of water and energy. And garbage disposals contribute unnecessary solids to your water-treatment facility, requiring more maintenance and more energy for proper treatment. If on a septic system, the excess solids will mean more frequent pumping, and if you fall short of proper maintenance, septic systems can contaminate ground water and surface water with nutrients and pathogens.
• Packaging that goes beyond what is reasonable or necessary should be avoided to alleviate the glut of packaging in the municipal waste stream (50% by volume!).
  - Buy foods in bulk and concentrate.
  - All else being equal choose the product with the least packaging.

Recycling

• Don’t limit your recycling to what is collected at the curb. Contact nearby recycling companies to find out what they accept for recycling. Materials like junk mail (a.k.a mixed waste paper), copy paper (a.k.a. office pack), plastic resins besides just types 1 and 2, aluminum in forms other than beverage cans, and other materials can be recycled through drop-off centers. Stockpile these materials in a basement or garage and make periodic trips to a drop-off center.
• Close the loop on recycling by purchasing containers and packaging that contain a relatively high percentage of recycled material. This would include alumnimum beverage cans, glass, and paperboard that is labeld “recycled”. Plastic containers generally contain no or relatively little recycled content.

Bedroom
For the average 16 hours in our day when we aren’t sleeping, our bedrooms shouldn’t be a burden to our energy bill. And for those eight or so hours each day when we are sleeping, our bodies need a safe and comfortable place to rejuvenate.

• Bedrooms are primarily for sleeping, so large bedrooms are usually a waste of space and resources. If building, save money and materials by planning appropriately sized bedrooms.  That especially goes for the master “suite” which is often over-sized for no good reason.
• Most people don’t spend much time in the bedroom during the day, so there’s really no need to heat or cool our bedrooms all day long. (The exception would be a nursery.) If you’re building a home, put bedrooms on a separate zone and don’t heat or cool these spaces during the day. If your home is on one zone, close vents and doors to rooms that will be unoccupied all day and don’t start reheating or recooling them until one hour before you plan on retiring for the evening.
• Take a look at your furniture. It should not be impeding air flow from registers and baseboard heaters.
• At night, set the thermostat to a conservative temperature which is adequate for sleeping: 58 to 62 degrees F in winter and 78 to 82 degrees F in the summer.
• The air in your bedroom is especially important since you breathe it in for 6 – 10 hours a night. To protect the quality of indoor air, use zero-VOC paints and finishes on your walls, trim and furniture. Select bedding and window treatments that have not been treated with off-gasing chemicals.  And wash your linens in non-toxic, unscented laundry detergent. If you feel you might benefit from an air filter or purifier in the bedroom, do your research before buying. There are different technologies, each with their own strengths and weaknesses–and price points. Air purifier buying guide.

Hot weather tips…

• A ceiling fan in the bedroom can help you sleep without the use of the AC at night.
• Don’t let bedrooms overheat in the late afternoon sun–heat that will still be felt long after the sun has gone down. Close all blinds and curtains in bedrooms that have South and West-facing windows each morning. After dark, when and if the outside temperature dips below 82 degrees, open the blinds and windows to let naturally cooler air in.

Cold weather tips…

• On overcast days keep shades closed in bedrooms to reduce the radiation of cold air through window glass from entering the room. This may not be necessary if you have energy efficient windows.
• On sunny days, open shades in South and West-facing bedrooms. The sun’s heat will warm the walls and windows outside and some of this heat energy will transfer to the interior unless your walls have etremely high insulation values.  Close curtains and shades after sundown to trap heat in the home and reduce the amount of heat your heating appliance will have to make to keep the rooms comfortable.
• If crawling between cold sheets is your idea of torture, an electric heating blanket will be your best friend. It will also permit you to keep your bedroom colder. No need to over-heat ambient air when all the comfort you need is wrapped around you! Preheat your bed, and then turn off AND unplug an electric blanket before tucking yourself in. Even turned off, electric blankets can emit electromagnetic fields, so go the extra step and unplug it as well. (see Electromagnetic Radiation below)

Electromagnetic Radiation
Electronics in our homes emit electromagnetic fields (EMFs) which contain radiation. Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) radiation is emitted by power lines, computers, TVs, and other electronics.  Microwave radiation is emitted by wireless devices. Both ELF and microwave radiation is non-ionizing meaning they don’t have enough energy to directly damage DNA. However, concerns have been raised about a possible link between some types of non-ionizing radiation and cancer.
The strength of an electromagnetic field is measured in Gauss. If you sleep with a digital alarm clock, cell phone and computer in your bedroom, the combined Gauss they send out equals approximately 126 milligauss (.126 Gauss).  Typical safety guidelines are between 0.6 and 3 milligauss, so clearly the electronics we surround ourselves with put us at greater risk for health related problems stemming from the radiation they send out.  Although most studies in adults have not found links between electromagnetic fields and cancer, several studies have found a link between EMFs and childhood cancers such as leukemia. Other adverse health effects being studied for their link to chronic exposure to EMFs include fetus abnormalities, neurodegenerative diseases and cardiac abnormalities.
The electronics craze isn’t going away, so all we can realistically do is manage our exposure better.  Putting more distance between us and the devices that produce EMFs is a start.

• Relocate a computer, printer and other electronic office equipment to a workspace outside the bedroom.  Plug all devices into a powerstrip and cut its power at night.
• Leave your cell phone outside the bedroom or several feet away from your bed.  Turn it off at night if you won’t need it.
• If particularly concerned about EMF exposure at night. Switch off the breaker in the circuit box that feeds your bedroom. Make sure this won’t interrupt power to vital home systems that might be tied into the same breaker.
• Arrange furniture so electrical outlets in the bedroom are at least four feet from your body as you sleep.
• If you have wireless devices, turn them off whenever you aren’t using them.

Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Sierra Club, May Clinic, Chej.org, DrClaudiaMiller.com, DrWeil.com, ftc.gov, Energystar.gov

Ethan Pulka is a Graduate of Kalamazoo Valley Community College in Wind Energy Technology, Alternative Energy, and Associate of Business. His company Wind Drake Inc., is looking to fill the gap in alternative energy for homeowners. You can see his work at www.windrake.com.

Download the entire article in PDF

 

 

 

This is a great project for children. 

Compost your organic garbage and food waste in an old cooler that has been pre-prepared with the following instructions.  Add topsoil and red worms.  Worms will eat the organic matter and turn it into soil that you can use in your garden.  Bonus – it doesn’t smell bad, and you can drain off the “compost tea” as fertilizer.
You will need:
An old drink cooler or food cooler, with a spout
One or two wire hangers
Hardware cloth
Old screen
Pliers
Wire cutters
Hammer
A large nail
Topsoil (and or peat moss)
Old newspapers with no colored ink
Note – if cooler leaks you may wish to set it in a plastic tray

 

Compostable organic food waste
Red Worms

Cut the wire hangers and bend them into a round shape to fit inside the cooler.
Cut the hardware cloth and screen to fit, bend them around the wire.  You can tie them on with bread ties, if you wish.

Put the wire circle inside the cooler.  This allows water to drain into the bottom… so the worms don’t drown.  They’ll not fall through the screen.  That way, you can drain off the water once in a while – “Compost Tea” is good for plants.  The composting process will happen on top of the screen.

Meanwhile, punch holes in the lid of the cooler.  Worms need air, and this will also aid in the composting process.  Brandyn and Johnny report that this was the most difficult part… pound nails somewhere that won’t hurt the floor, use a big nail, and be prepared for it to “bounce”

Add torn up black and white newspapers to the cooler.  Please use ink that is organic based – petroleum based ink can harm the worms and your garden.  Soak the newspapers in water first.

Now for the fun part – add topsoil, peat moss, organic compost, and the red worms.

If you’re a really conscientious composter, chop the compost up first.  Or not – we didn’t  bother.  You can use vegetable and fruit leftovers, egg shells, coffee and tea grounds, and other organic waste.  Go easy on citrus.  Do NOT add meat or animal byproducts.


Add worms!  These are available at any bait shop, or in garden catalogues, or from your own garden.  We used red worms.

Happy worms!

Put the lid on and store your composter in a cool, dry place.  Add a bit of water and more shredded newspaper if the compost becomes too dry. Drain weekly so it doesn’t become too wet.  Add food waste as often as daily, as long as you can see the organic matter is being broken down.  Remove worms before adding the compost to garden – although some worms are beneficial for the soil – and they’ll breed in the composter.  You may have to add more soil after removing the compost.
Participants:
Dave Aldag
Brandyn Aldag
Shadow Beebe
Johnny DeSantiago

by Guy McPhearson

Guy McPherson is a well-known speaker and author within the Green movement and the Transition Initiative. He has graciously given Magickal Media permission to reprint this article which was originally posted on "Transition Voice". The Transition Initiative helps people to move from conventional dependence on petrolem to a more sustainable lifestyle. Many people involved in Transition are also members of the Earth Spirituality community. In the interest of fostering cooperation and sharing knowledge, Magickal Media editors suggest that you take a look at the Transition website.

---

As should be clear to any observant being, we’re headed for a world characterized by ever declining supplies of crude oil.

And because most all “renewable” forms of energy technology are derived from or currently trace back to crude oil, declining availability of oil translates directly to reduced availability of energy and ultimately to completion of the ongoing collapse of the industrial economy.

Even the White House admits world oil supply is not keeping pace with demand, a fact that has President Obama pondering the notion of tapping the strategic petroleum reserve. The hidden-in-plain-sight approach of drawing down reserves has nearly run its course, so Obama’s response is the politically astute next step. Evidently today’s national leadership means a one-time, short-term politically motivated action instead of a truly strategic and durable solution.

Manifold issues, zero response

Societally we face climate chaos at the same time we face energy decline. The tragic political response to these two crises is identical: willful ignorance and intentional obfuscation. Being unmoored from meaningful leadership, we’ve chosen death over life by default, up to and including the near-term extinction of all human beings.

A minor example comes from the United States military and its untouchable budget: The Department of Defense (sic) burns 360,000 barrels of oil every day in support of wars we know about in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, and Yemen. Who knows how much is devoted to the wars about which the citizenry hasn’t been informed?

Carpooling by concerned Americans exhibits patriotism by allowing the Pentagon access to a few gallons more, even though the inadequacy of conservation was illustrated nearly 150 years ago in William Stanley Jevons’ book, The Coal Question. (The irrelevance of conservation and efficiency were subsequently confirmed by the Khazzoom-Brookes postulate.)

Because our society has chosen destruction of the living planet in the name of economic growth, thus failing to deal with the most important events in the history of our species, we — meaning those of us who care — must mitigate for the twin sides of the fossil-fuel coin in small groups. Communities must carry the day, and individuals comprising our communities must face our ambiguous future with large reserves of courage, compassion, and creativity. The difficulty of this task cannot be overstated.

It’s a big job: Where do we start?

First, we must recognize the nature of the twin predicaments we face: We’re near the end of the industrial age (the good news), and global climate change is under way and is accelerating (the bad news). Acknowledging reality is a huge step, and one that most people are unwilling to take. Leadership by example is imperative at the local level, and it must begin today.

After recognizing the predicaments, we must work to end the industrial economy that’s making us crazy and killing us (while also killing every other component of the living planet). Along the way, we’ve got to put our shoulders to the proverbial wheel in pursuit of real homeland security.

Protection vs. propaganda

Protecting homeland security has nothing to do with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). By supporting the militaristic, growth-for-the-sake-of-growth agenda of the country’s political leaders, DHS is actively trying to destroy the lands and waters we need to survive.

I’m not a fan.

Rather than supporting the cancerous policies of DHS and its ilk, I recommend defending the living planet on which we depend for our lives. Like Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, we must be willing to risk our lives in defense of the systems that support our lives. We must work unceasingly to keep the lands and water wild and free from the insults of industry. The words of the iconoclastic writer and philosopher Edward Abbey come to mind: “A patriot must be ready to defend his country against his government.”

Investing in durability

A set of living arrangements steeped in suburbia and an interstate highway system — the least durable set of living arrangements we could possible imagine, much less implement — depends upon ready access to an infinite supply of crude oil. But whoops, wait now. Crude oil is a finite material. Thus, development of the most lethal force in the history of humanity is requisite to maintenance of the oil-fueled American lifestyle.

The governmental and cultural solution to our crude addiction is two-fold: obedient, unconscious consumption at home and oppression abroad. Personally, I can’t support either approach. Fortunately, there’s another, more durable, way.

What we need

We need air to breathe. We need water to drink. We need food to eat. We need to maintain the temperature of our bodies at a relatively stable 98.6 F (37 C). We need decent human communities.

That’s all we need. Isn’t that beautiful?

We don’t need industrialization for any of these five factors. Indeed, the industrial economy is effective only to the extent it destroys each of these five factors. Retaining the ability of natural systems to provide these attributes is fundamental to the persistence of our species. It is our vital commons, to which we have a natural right to access in reference to our true needs, while leaving it free from harm for others to use as well. We must defend this from hijacker, usurpers and those who would use it to their private, corporate and profit-driven ends. We have the right to life!

As the industrial economy continues its ongoing demise, hopefully with your aid, you can take specific actions to ensure future generations of humans will persist in your locale.

Think, and act, locally

The Transition to a life free from the curse of fossil fuels can be eased by maintaining focus on the five elements crucial to persistence of our species: air, water, food, body temperature, and human community.

As individuals and communities, we have little control over the first item on the list. However, air quality necessarily improves when we reduce emissions. Thus, completion of the ongoing demise of the industrial economy, along with the attendant lack of access to fossil fuels by most individuals, should do the trick.

Surface water or ground water are available beyond the reach of corporations and governments. Water from streams and lakes can be treated for human consumption with relative ease, as can rainwater collected locally. A simple, durable hand pump can be used to extract water cleaned by Earth’s natural systems. These strategies fail where surface water and precipitation are inadequate and groundwater is too deep to extract with simply technologies (e.g., most of southwestern North America). As you contemplate our post-carbon future, bear in mind that the time to dig a well is not when you’re thirsty.

Food can be gathered and grown. Hunting and gathering supported us throughout the first two million years of the human experience. There were far fewer human beings in these pre-agricultural days than we have today, but I’ve no doubt a significant near-term reduction of the human population in industrialized countries will help mitigate this daunting problem. Subsistence gardening can augment or replace gathered food, keeping in mind that the time to plant a garden is not when you’re hungry.

Maintaining body temperature is relatively simple if we manage to stop global average temperature from skyrocketing. Assuming we terminate the industrial economy in time to prevent runaway greenhouse, shelters and clothing will maintain body temperature in the requisite range for most locales. If we fail to terminate the industrial economy in time to prevent runaway greenhouse, shelter and clothing will not be needed.

And you thought I was all gloom and doom.

Finally, building and maintaining decent human communities are critical to a viable post-carbon existence. There are no lone rangers in collapse, just as none survived long during the prior Stone Age. In addition to the profound challenges of living alone, why would anybody want to live without the love and humor of others?

A personal example

Lest you believe the task is too great, I have even more good news.

When I started my own on-the-ground efforts at post-carbon living as a life-long suburban academic, I could barely distinguish between a zucchini and a screwdriver. But during the last few years, I have learned how to grow vegetables, chickens, ducks, and goats while building structures, skills, and a strong sense of community. Working with other people on shared property, I used local knowledge, trial-and-error, stubbornness, and a budding sense of patience.

I’ve no doubt you can do better than my stumbling efforts. If you want help along the way, don’t hesitate to call on your neighbors. Or, for that matter, on me.

–Guy McPherson for Transition Voice

Reprinted with permission from http://transitionvoice.com/2011/06/transitioning/

Download a PDF version

About Guy McPherson: Guy McPherson is professor emeritus of natural resources and the environment at the University of Arizona, where he taught and conducted research for 20 years. His scholarly efforts have produced nine books and well over 100 articles, and have focused for many years on conservation of biological diversity. He lives in an off-grid, straw-bale house where he puts into practice his lifelong interest in durable living via organic gardening, raising small animals for eggs and milk, and working with members of his rural community. Learn more at guymcpherson.com or email Guy at grm@ag.arizona.edu.

 

by Terry Kok

What if you, your parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and maybe ancestors further back. were told a really big LIE, one they based their life and counted on to be true? If this LIE unraveled before your eyes and all that you thought was true collapsed and crumbled, leaving you and your friends and family in dire straits, what would you do? Would you suicide? Would you attempt to keep living like you did even though it is an impossibility? Or, would you learn how to adapt?

ADAPTATION is a big word for some folks. My thesaurus defines it as an alteration, adjustment, acclimatization, modification, change. The BIG LIE says that a corporate controlled industrial civilization is sustainable, that it can continue to rape nature to provide us with life support with no consequences to be faced, that it is the best and only proper way to live. It is a LIE designed by the industrialists so that we would buy and consume their products and work in their factories. The LIE is currently being exposed by time and nature.

The corporate controlled industrial civilization is crashing, running up against the wall of population growth, diminishing natural resources, environmental destruction, and internal corruption. Rome is falling and those who relied on it are in dire straits. The truth is that no stimulus package is large enough to replace what we’re losing and restore what we once knew. There are too many forces converging for that. Rather, we should learn how to adapt, how to acclimatize to our emerging situation. We don’t have much time to act. The whole planet is experiencing the same thing. We are not alone in our realization that we have been lied to.

The consequences of past actions are knocking on at the door. Look around you. Read the news. We see wild weather, polluted waters and tainted air, and a collapsing economy built on non-sustainable practices. We see war, murder, rape, pedophilia, and dying oceans, melting glaciers, rising waters. We’re not stupid. We can read the signs. Yet, most of us do not know what we can do, how we can get out of this mess, and what should we build in place of it. We have gathered here to seek (and possibly find) viable solutions. We did not come here to argue the fine points, to divide ourselves with political proclamations, or to revel in the horror of what is coming down. We leave those topics to another time and place. Right now it is the appropriate moment to consider our options.

First, let us consider what we need for basic life support and how we might provide for ourselves and our family and friends, maybe even our neighborhood, community, nation, and the whole world. Yes, its good to think globally but we need to act locally and the most local place to start is with one’s own life. Let’s take a quick survey:
1) Who here walks instead of drives down the road?
2) Who here composts their garbage?
3) Who here composts their toilet waste?
4) Who here recycles their wash water?
5) Who here plants trees, berry bushes, wildflowers?
6) Who here grows an organic food garden?
7) Who here harnesses the wind?
8) Who here harvests the sun?
9) Who here knows how to maintain their health with natural foods, herbal medicines, and massage?

There is so much we can do. Yet, before we delve deeper into the alternatives we should take a bit of time exploring some of the things we can do to conserve energy in our homes:

Efficiency is the key here. If we leave the lights on or keep the TV plugged in (even when off), we are using more than we need. Did you know that almost every electronic plugged-in appliance is draining power even though it is not turned on? It is called a “phantom load”. Lots of phantom loads add up to a large steady power drain. Plug those electronics into a plug strip and turn off the plug strip when the appliance is not being used.

Turn off the lights you are not currently using. Do you really need to light the whole room with a big bulb when reading a book or would a small high intensity reading light conserve more power? Standard incandescent bulbs waste power in the form of heat. Compact fluorescent bulbs make less heat and are thus considerably more efficient than incandescents - unless the incandescent is used for a short time (like in a closet) because fluorescents take a bit more power to “fire up”. The most efficient lighting to date is a sulfur light. These use microwaves to stimulate sulfur to produce light. These bulbs pump out light like miniature suns. The light from one bulb is channeled to other locations via fiber optics. So far, these are very expensive and are not available on the open market. The next efficient light is an LED (light emitting diode). There are some great LED flashlights on the market these days and the screw in version are just starting to penetrate the mass marketplace. LEDS do not get hot, last almost “forever”, are hard to break, and use very little power. In my opinion, LED lighting is the way to go.

In a normal home, lighting takes considerable power but refrigeration takes much more. Super insulate the refrigerator with 6” more insulation. Put the compressor on top so that the heat from it rises away from the refrigerator, not up through the cold box like standard models. With a front opening door, every time the door opens the cold falls out. Use a model which opens like a chest freezer. The most energy efficient location for a refrigerator (in the northern hemisphere) is on the north (shaded) wall of the home close to or in contact with the ground (which is 55 degrees F). Do not put a refrigerator where the sun can shine on it!

Also, during the winter when water turns to ice, fill some jugs, let them freeze, then put them inside your refrigerator.

AC (alternating current) engines/motors/compressors, including those in refrigerators, are not as efficient as DC (direct current) models. DC refrigerators usually operate at 12 volts and can be run directly off a battery bank, which can be charged by solar electric panels (photovoltaics), wind generators, and microhydro units (which usually produce DC power). The refrigerators mentioned above are “compression cycle” machines. They are more efficient than the propane fired “evaporation cycle” refrigerators found in RVs and in many off-grid homes. Solid state refrigeration can be accomplished with Peltier Junction chips (some coolers which plug into cigarette lighter sockets are available) but they are not very efficient. Ultrasonic refrigeration (very efficient) is possible but not yet available on the open market.

Electric stoves, ovens, hair dryers, plug-in heaters, base-board heaters, hot plates, or anything which uses electricity to heat a coil of wire are very inefficient. Gas stoves are more efficient. Wood stoves work if you have a steady wood supply. Yet, wood smoke is also polluting and you need to plant more than you burn just to keep up. Solar energy is free. Consider your options. If you need a clothes dryer, a propane or natural gas dryer is better than an electric one. Try hanging the clothing in the sun on a line. It will save you much power.

Room heating should not be electric. A well-designed solar home that is super insulated can get by quite well with a woodstove or a small propane or natural gas powered heater to augment the sun’s power when it is not shining on the home. Super insulation is the key here. So is using an “air lock” hallway (with two doors) to keep the cold from getting in. Air conditioners are a huge drain on power. It is best to use the coolness of the earth itself (55 degrees F.) to cool your home. It is easy to construct a simple system of parallel pipes which run through the ground and into your home. Outside air is drawn in through the pipes and is cooled by the earth. The moisture in the outside air condenses in these pipes to produce distilled water. This is called an “air well”. During the summer, the home should be shaded by trees. Homes which are bermed or built into the ground (earth sheltered) are easier to cool and heat.
Water heating can be made more efficient by switching to an on-demand tankless style water heater which provides a steady stream of hot water for as long as you keep the faucet open and there is fuel to power it. There is running out of water because the tank is empty and no need to waste power keeping a tank of hot water waiting for when you want it. Tankless heaters make hot water as it is used and are available in propane and natural gas models. Some brands have a solar connected model where the tankless doesn’t turn on if the incoming water from the solar collector is already hot enough. Enterprising individuals have turned their old tank style heater into a solar water heater by stripping off the outer casing and insulation, painting the core tank stove black, and exposing it to the sun inside an insulated box with a glass cover made of an old shower door. Other folks have used coiled hose, PEX tubing or, if you can afford it, parallel runs of copper pipe.

Water use can be reduced in may ways. Don’t let the faucet run when not in use. Use misting shower heads and the ones which have a built-in button to push to turn off the flow while scrubbing up. Wash water, if not contaminated by harsh chemicals and old medicines poured down the drain or by toilet water, can be piped into the garden to keep it watered instead of down the drain, overburdening the aging sewage treatment infrastructure or filling the septic tank. Other folks are recycling their water inside greenhouses attached to their house, also acting as passive solar space heaters. Wash water is also called gray water. Gray water should not be mixed with the water which leaves your toilet bowl. This is called black water. Gray water is sometimes used to flush toilets. Yet, is the flush toilet such a great invention? Consider a composting toilet. With one of those, coupled with a gray water system, you can not only disconnect from the sewer lines and stop discharging into United States waters, you also end up with rich compost for the flower garden.
Cooking should be as efficient as possible. Solar box ovens (insulated boxes with black interiors, a piece of thermal glass on the front, and a reflector to focus more sunlight into the box) work great as long as the sun is shining - even in the winter! Electric stoves should be avoided. If you must use electricity for cooking, a microwave oven is more efficient than an electric stove because it cooks faster. Natural gas or propane stoves are much better. Steamed vegetables have more vitamins than over-boiled ones and steaming saves a lot of power. The more raw food we eat the less cooking is needed and the healthier we become.

In the electronics world, small is better. A laptop computer uses far less power than a desktop model. A small screened TV is more efficient than an large one. AN MP3 players uses a tiny amount of power compared to a CD player. Choose your appliances, electronics, and tools based on efficiency as well as performance. Do you need a VCR in your home or would it be more fun to watch a movie with others in the community shelter? At the very least, turn off the lights when they are not being used! Conservation starts with awareness. If we are going to adapt to the changes we have to start by learning to conserve nature’s gifts. Remember: the more power we use the more power we have to produce.

We’re not trying to live like primitives here. We value a high level of peaceful and sustainable civilization. We simply realize that we can no longer be supported by big business must now adapt to the changing situation. Conservation on all levels is important. We need to do more with less. We need to plan ahead. We need to take control of the situation and show our neighbors how we did it. We need to step outside of the box, dare to be different, and take personal responsibility for providing ourselves with life support, including the energy we use.

By now I hope you know that the grid, as it is currently constructed, is not capable of handling the growing demand for energy. Huge storms bring the grid to the ground. Rebuild is expensive. Rates are raised. Fuel sources are hard to find and exploit. On top of that, many water delivery and sewage treatment systems are old, antiquated, breaking down. The industrial level infrastructure is in bad shape. Much of the groundwater is either tainted with industrial and agricultural chemicals or has been or is being depleted. Drought is becoming endemic in many regions. Deserts are spreading.

Of course we wonder what we can do besides conserve and recycle our resources. We need answers. Yet, while we may learn from others, the most important thing is to implement what we learn on a personal level, to the best of our ability. We need to take personal responsibility rather than wait for our substitute parents (big government and big business) to do it for us. Remember, Rome is in steep decline and cannot afford to keep us all alive. In the Empire’s eyes, more and more people are becoming expendable. The support net is frayed and torn. The mothership is sinking. There are not enough lifeboats.

We need to build backyard arks, life supporting waste recycling greenhouses, and renewable power systems. We need to build cooperative networks of friends and family, cooperative buying clubs so we can get those things we cannot produce ourselves or get from our neighbors - at a good price, below retail. We can learn, once again, how to barter, trade, and swap, or simply give our excess to those in need. We need to start our own power production companies, organic farms, building materials recycling centers, natural healthcare and disease prevention sanctuaries, and encourage our local and regional governments to use their political clout to bless and promote them.

We need to get the media aware of the situation and working for the people and not the BIG LIE. We need to put ourselves to work, pool resources, teach classes, get personally involved in the school system, upgrading it so that our children learn what is useful, not just what big government and big business wants them to know. Practical skills need to be shared. Grandmothers and grandfathers need to be questioned and asked to explain. Folk knowledge needs to be recovered, recorded, and made into instructional programs we can run on the Internet. We need art which shows us a positive sustainable future, pictures of a re-greened environment, people living sustainable ecovillage lifestyles, energy efficient long distant mass transport bullet trains, electric vehicles for local travel, bike lanes, walking paths, a rewriting of zoning ordinances to allow home scale businesses.

I’m not suggesting that we get rid of big business and its industrial prowess and employment opportunities. That would be foolish. I, for one, enjoy and thrive in a high level of civilization. I just want to have more control over my life and help big business clean up its act. Every watt I produce is one they don’t have to. Every vegetable I grow and chicken I raise does not have to be produced on a factory farm. Every drop of water I catch in my rain barrel and cistern is another which I don’t need to purchase for the utilities. I can dig mini-ponds in my yard and line them with recycled advertising tarps, maybe raise some fish, build a composter from an recycled plastic barrel, a solar air heater from aluminum cans, and run my gray water into the garden so that I don’t overburden the public sewer system and treatment plant. There is so much we can do, alone and together.

 

by Terry Kok

Here are some prime candidates for home and community scale energy transformation:

1) SOLAR THERMAL - Sunlight contains an incredible amount of energy. When sunlight falls on a dark surface, that surface heats up. Trapping sunlight, heating something up, and storing that heat are what solar thermal is all about. Super insulated buildings can be heated by solar energy (as long as there is sunlight).

Solar thermal systems can be divided into “passive” and “active”. Passive systems have no moving parts. A black painted tank filled with water and exposed to sunlight is an example of a passive system. An active system has moving parts (blowers, pumps, valves, etc.).

An example of an active system might be a rooftop mounted solar thermal panel filled with antifreeze (so that it does not freeze during the winter) that is connected to an indoor insulated water heater. There is a pump which pushes the antifreeze through a heat exchanger coil in the water heater (where the trapped solar heat is given over to the water) and back again to the rooftop solar thermal panel where it picks up more heat from the sun.

Active systems tend to break down and should not be used where a passive system will suffice. Both active and passive systems can heat air, water, and even rock. Passively and actively heated solar building both use some sort of thermal storage system (water or rock) to trap excess solar heat and release it gradually over time, maintaining an even temperature indoors.

Some people have even constructed solar thermal “heat engines” which turn sunlight into mechanical power to spin generators, pump water, and run drills, lathes, and fans. Solar ovens, cookers, and food driers are easy to build and cost effective to operate. Solar stills can turn brackish water into fresh. A solar water heater is a great way to save energy. Passive solar space heaters can be constructed from recycled glass and roofing metal or even aluminum cans. Solar water heaters are also easy to construct.

2) EARTH POWER - Below the frost line, the earth is about 55 degrees F. Tubes or pipes can be laid through the earth and air or water pumped through those pipes. This is called “geothermal”. During the summer this system can be used to cool a building. During the winter, this can be used with a “heat extractor” to provide space heating. If you are using a conventional propane or natural gas furnace or even a woodstove, the air used for combustion should come into the building through ground pipes, using the earth to preheat the air to 55 degrees F. When coupled with a solar thermal system, excess summer heat can be pumped / blown through these same pipes, heating the ground below the building and raising the ground temperature by a few degrees.

3) BIO-GAS - When organic animal and human wastes and garbage decompose in anaerobic conditions (without oxygen) they produce a mixture of gasses which contain a high proportion of burnable methane. Home scale methane production does not work since we do not produce enough waste. Community or farm scale systems, especially if there are many animals to provide manure, can be made to work. The gas is not very high quality and, when burned, does produce some pollution, similar to propane or natural gas. Natural gas is mainly methane.

4) BIO-DIESEL - By using emulsifying agents (usually chemicals) dirty fryer fats from restaurants can be recycled into bio-diesel and may be burned in diesel engines to run vehicles or even back-up electricity generators. Bio-diesel pollutes less than petroleum diesel fuel but still pollutes. Bio-diesel should not be made with food plants. High quality bio-diesel can be made from a variety of weeds or extracted from algae grown on sewage water.

5) ALCOHOL - Alcohol (with the proper government permits) can be made from a number of plants and their waste products. It can be burned in most internal combustion engines with slight modifications to the carburetor and the replacement of plastic tubing with metal. Alcohol combustion pollutes less than gasoline but still creates poisons which are exhausted into the atmosphere. Alcohol should not be made from food plants. There are many other sources.

6) SOLAR ELECTRICS - The proper term for this is called “photovoltaics” or PV. PV panels are composed of PV cells. Several panels wired together make up a PV array. PV must be pointed at the sun. Power production is reduced when the sunlight strikes the cells at an angle. PV cells are more efficient in cold weather. Commercial PV cells for home power production transform about 10% of the sunlight into electricity.

There are experimental PV cells which have a much higher efficiency but they are either very expensive or not yet available. PV cells come in three basic types: amorphous, multi-crystalline, and single crystal. Single crystal is the longest lasting with the highest output.

Commercial PV cells are not cheap but they do not make any noise or pollution while producing power. PV output is DC (direct current) and is usually stored in a battery bank. The battery bank can be tapped direct to provide power for pumps, electric motors, and compression cycle refrigeration (which runs more efficiently on DC than AC).

An “inverter” may also be connected to the battery bank to produce 120VAC (standard wall current) with about a 5-10% reduction in efficiency. Electric systems which are not connected to the grid are called “off grid” or “stand alone”. PV systems may also be “grid-tied”, with or without a backup battery bank.

7) WIND POWER - Wind power can be either mechanical (like those old fashioned towers with the large bladed fans which were used on farms to pump water from wells) or electrical. Wind powered electric generators cost far less (watt per dollar) than PV systems and are hooked up to a battery bank or tied to the grid just like PV. If there is a steady and strong source of wind, wind power is a good option.

Wind turbines need to be at least 50’ above the ground. The closer to the ground (or house or trees) the more turbulence there is and the less power produced. Wind power works where there is enough wind at a fast enough speed. Wind charts are not precise enough. If you are interested in wind you need to take a wind survey on your site before investing.

You also need to be very careful about which wind turbines you purchase. They are not all the same, the manufacturer’s claims are often inflated to make it seem like you will produce more power than you actually will, and, like all mechanical devices, wear down and need regular maintenance.

There are two basic types of wind turbines, the VAWT (vertical axis wind turbine) and the HAWT (horizontal axis wind turbine). HAWTs typically produce about 50% more power than VAWTs. Just because it’s spinning doesn’t mean it’s making any appreciable amount of power. Most power is produced in 20 mph or higher wind speeds.

Wind turbines used to make electricity need to move fast because of the physics of electric power generation and the type of turbines in common use. Most small turbines are similar to car or truck alternators except they use permanent magnets instead of a secondary coil. One type of turbine called an “axial flux” is relatively easy to build from scratch and has the added bonus of making power at lower speeds.

8) WATER POWER - Microhydro units are used to tap flowing and falling water and convert that energy to electricity. Microhydro systems are hooked up just like PV and wind generators. If the flow and fall are strong and steady enough, microhydro is a great option for continuous power production.

Another water trick is to use the falling water to turn a wheel to provide direct mechanical power to grind grain, spin fans, and power drills and lathes. A community with an abundance of falling water is lucky indeed!

In recent years several companies have been working towards producing an in-stream turbine which works at slower speeds. In order to make electricity at slow speeds, with micro hydro or wind, a gearbox is used which adds another level of complexity and somewhat reduces power.

A note on grid-tied solar electric, wind, and microhydro systems:
The commercial electric grid, as it is currently configured, is designed to work on a steady-state base load and is not capable of handling large amounts of power from sources which vary in output according to the weather, such as solar electrics and wind.

Microhydro is not so much a problem since it is usually based in a stream which has a steady flow. As it is, there are more than a few wind farms standing idle until the grid is reconfigured to handle their variable power input. The amount of power which a utility may purchase from a home energy producer is limited in most states.

Some states have a net metering law which says the power company must buy your home generated electricity at the same rate as what they sell electricity to you. Other states purchase your power for wholesale rates and sell it back to you when you need it at retail rates. In either case one must be hooked to the grid through an expensive inverter which synchronizes your power with the alternating current of the grid, matching waves perfectly.

In most cases people use more power than they can produce. So, that PV, wind, or microhydro system you are interested in will not overburden the grid. In fact, it will help the grid by relieving at least a part of your load. Every watt you make yourself is a watt that the grid does not have to produce.

A note on battery systems:
In grid-tied systems, unless you have battery backup, when the grid goes down, you lose power. This is a primary reason why many folks choose to build stand-alone off-grid systems. The weakest link in a stand-alone renewable energy system is the batteries. They must be deep cycle batteries, made to be deeply discharged and recharged many times. Car and truck batteries will not work. They are designed to deliver high current for brief times, such as when starting the vehicle. If they are deeply discharged they can never be fully charged again. Avoid them. Marine trolling motor batteries, golf cart batteries, and the kind of batteries designed to be used in electric vehicles, including cars, scooters, and wheelchairs are what we want.

If you have access to military surplus, you might be able to score huge deep cycle batteries which are used to start jet engines. On the lower end of the cost scale, in heavy daily use, golf cart batteries will last anywhere between 4 and 8 years, depending on how well you treat them. For the most part all you need to do is maintain their float charge above 12.5 volts in a 12 volt system and water them about once per month with distilled water.

There are batteries designed for renewable energy systems. They tend to be a bit more expensive but some are rated to last 30+ years.

Battery banks can be wired for 12, 24, 36, or 48 volts DC. Small systems tend to be 12VDC. Larger systems may chose a higher voltage. Any time the power producing equipment is located far from the battery bank, higher voltages are used because there is a lower loss of power due to wire resistance in transmission

A note on wiring PV, wind, and micro hydrosystems:
Do not attempt to wire an alternative electric system without knowledge of how they work. In grid-tied systems the final connection must be made by a licensed professional. In any case one should do their wiring in alignment with the electric code, for safety reasons and to ensure a long life for your investment.

There are specialized voltage regulators on the market designed to get the most out of your system and to maintain the proper level of charge in your battery bank. Cut-off switches are essential. So is proper grounding.

Battery banks store power as DC (direct current). DC can be used directly if your home wiring is set up for it or, as most folks do, is changed to 120 volt AC by an inverter. High quality inverters are available on the market these days. Cheaper modified sine wave inverters will work but tend to produce power which is not as pure as the higher quality sine wave inverters. Your home electronics prefer quality power. Your inverter input must be at the same voltage as your battery bank. A 12V inverter cannot be hooked up to a 24V bank.

9) HYDROGEN - Hydrogen is burned with oxygen to produce heat and water vapor. There is no pollution in this reaction. When hydrogen is burned in open air there are some nitrogen oxides produced (very little). Most internal combustion engines, gas stoves, gas dryers, and gas refrigerators can be converted to burn hydrogen.

There is another way to “slow burn” hydrogen called “catalytic combustion” in which hydrogen is consumed without a flame at the surface of a rare metal catalyst like platinum. Some space heaters are “catalytic heaters”. Another way to burn hydrogen is in a fuel cell. Fuel cells use a catalyst and a series of membranes to combine hydrogen with oxygen to produce heat, electricity, and distilled water.

Small scale fuel cells are just coming into the consumer marketplace and may be even used to power vehicles without pollution. Hydrogen can be used to enrich bio-gas to make it a more usable power resource. The trouble with hydrogen is that it does not exist on earth in any appreciable quantity - except when it is bound to another element. Water contains 2 hydrogen atoms with 1 oxygen atom. The trouble is that it takes more energy to split water into H and O than the energy one gets by burning the two to create water! In other words, if you already have the energy to split water, why not use it direct?

On the other hand, if you have excess energy (such as summer sunlight), why not use that energy to split water? The subject of splitting water and the methods of doing so are being studied in detail by experts and inventors all over the world in order to prepare the way for a “hydrogen economy” which some people believe will take over at the end of the fossil fuel era. I hope so. We should look deeply at this technology.

One more thing about hydrogen technology: Much of the spent nuclear fuel from commercial reactors sits in water filled pits, disassociating the water into hydrogen and oxygen. Utility companies should be tapping this waste product. If this is channeled into a fuel cell, the fuel cell makes heat, electricity, and water. The water is then run back over the radioactive substance and the cycle continues. This is a “closed circuit system”. If my sources are correct (the people who worked on this project), the Hubble space telescope has one of these closed systems on board. They call it a “99 year battery” because, every 99 years or so they must add a bit of water because, bit by bit, the water is converted to heat and electricity.

Personally, I believe the massive amounts of nuclear waste currently on earth could be used in small “home scale” units, wrapped in lead with an unbreakable titanium hull. A licensed service person would inject water every hundred years and replace the radioactive screens every thousand years or so. But, that’s for the future. Right now this technology is not a viable option for common use - mainly due to the social and legal, not technical, problems of working with nuclear waste.

Before we able to put the LIE to rest, that big government and even bigger corporations can care for us, there is major community work to do together. Don’t wait for leaders. Take initiative. We need to organize, educate, and make some legal changes. In many areas laws need to be liberalized, health codes changed, and zoning codes amended to permit rooftop solar, backyard wind, gray water gardening, and human waste composting systems. Net metering of home made electricity needs to be instituted in every state. Some folks think that the whole grid needs to be owned by the people.

Politics aside, we must remember that the whole process starts at home with what we do to save energy and produce it at home, in every way possible. We’re talking about life support here and finding practical ways that we can take care of ourselves and our families, friends, neighbors, community, state, nation, and the living biosphere of this planet. The buck starts and stops at home.

Don’t forget about the children. They are the ones who are inheriting the mess made by the BIG LIE. Where are the practical classes on self-sustaining lifestyles, renewable energy production, organic gardening, building wind generators in shop class, and so forth? We need to offer our services to the schools, get elected to school boards so we can help change the curriculum, find ways that students can become apprentices and learn a useful trade. The landscape is changing fast. The America we once knew is disappearing. The age of cheap energy and mass manufactured life support is passing. Children deserve the truth and the tools to make the transition. Make sure they have them. Put your heart into it. Love is nothing to be ashamed of. Help them help you go through the changes. I bet they have some great ideas.

We can do far more together than we can do alone. Consider the possibilities of forming cooperative buying clubs to purchase equipment at lower prices. There is power in numbers. Don’t wait for a salesman to come to your door or set up shop down the street. Get active. Get on the Internet and research this stuff in detail. Network. Join existing groups. Start new groups. Connect with people and learn from each other. Most importantly, get outdoors where the weather actually is. Participate in nature’s processes. A major part of the BIG LIE is that it can protect you from nature, harness it to do it’s bidding. As Rome falls these jobs are falling into our laps, whether we like it or not.

ADAPTATION is not an easy process but it is the only one which works when the world goes mad and empires fall to dust. To ADAPT is to become a steward of nature. Stewardship is the profession we need to prepare for, the one for which humanity was originally intended. Whether we rise or fall to the occasion depends upon free will, conscious choice, and physical action. Fence sitting is not a viable option. Resisting the changes is foolhardy. Fighting the flow is suicide.

The BIG LIE is collapsing. It is time for humanity to pick up the pieces, reconfigure them, put ourselves to work, start cottage industries, create jobs on a local level making the equipment we need. Humanity needs to mature, grow up and take responsibility for itself. We, the people, need to care for one another, pool resources for mutual aid and support, and do it ourselves at home - or mark civilization up as another failed experiment in the long forgotten history of the world.

Terry’s article was originally a note on his FaceBook page:

Download the full article in PDF