June 30, 2008
Dear Parents of Day Campers,
The following rules regarding drop-off and pick up have been revised to reflect reality.
Pick up time is 3:45, but please be sure to arrive early so you’ll have time to chat on the phone as you idle in your air-conditioned SUV. If you don’t arrive early, you’ll end up waiting behind the early birds for fifteen to twenty minutes, idling your SUV with the air-conditioner running.
By no means should you park your excessively large vehicle in any of the many spaces along the road behind the camp and walk to retrieve your camper. Your SUV may lose its conditioned air, and this might make you and your camper uncomfortable. Unexpected pedestrians may also cause confusion and disorientation of those patiently idling while talking on the cell phones. Also, campers are very hot from a long day and should get into an air-conditioned environment as soon as possible. Walking all 200 yards could cause heat stroke, carbon monoxide poisoning, and death.
Car-pooling is not allowed as camp counselors are not trained to handle escorting more than one camper per vehicle. Families with more than one camper will have to send one large SUV per camper, or circle around to the end of the line after picking up each one. Bicycling is not allowed.
Parents driving Hummers and Yukons to pick up their campers are welcome to use any of the four complementary gas pumps located along the one-mile idling stretch as many times as needed. The price of refills has been included in the tuition of all campers.
The safety of your children is our highest concern, next you your personal comfort.
June 28, 2008
Not to brag or anything, but my family rocks! We have reduced our electrical consumption by 40% over the course of the time we started seriously thinking about our impact on the environment. What’s the secret?
As you can see from numerous blog posts linked here, and from the pretty amazing chart (click here for the readable version) I made here, there is no secret.
Changing light bulbs to CFL certainly helped. We replaced our washer and dryer with energy efficient models. We turn out the lights when they are not in use. We set up TVs and computers to turn off completely and automatically. We were careful about heat in the basement playroom (which uses electric heat). And we reduced the need for air conditioning in the summer using insulation, shades, ceiling fans and others.
But most of all, we just became aware. Becoming aware was gradual (more…)
June 26, 2008
If you cover your ears and say “la-la-la-la-la” does that mean you don’t hear your parents telling you go to bed? Not in my house.
Apparently the White House feels differently. The New York Times reported yesterday that the White House simply refused to open an email sent by the EPA. (Please read this article!).
Nothing important, just the EPA’s response to the Supreme Court ruling stating that is wasn’t ok to ignore the Clean Air Act. As a result CO2 needed to be treated as a pollutant just like other effluents.
So it seems the EPA wrote up rather extensive study in 2007 after the ruling showing how the country could actually benefit from acting upon this ruling, such as how having strict rules on vehicle emissions could save (not cost) billions of dollars.
But the administration doesn’t think the Clean Air Act is a good thing, it seems, so they refused to accept these findings. “La-la-la-la-la” (more…)
June 22, 2008
It is a wonderful thing that car manufacturers are moving to hybrid versions of their vehicles.
Like many of the incremental features introduced in cars over the years, the good ones catch on. Shoulder belts, air bags, anti-lock braking, and many others have made cars safer.
And now, many cars are available with hybrid engines. This adds to the price of the car a little (or sometimes, it seems, a lot). And a hybrid system makes the car greener, right?
Why, the Chevy Tahoe is the green car of the year if you can believe that. (It costs $11,000 more to get the “green” hybrid version, so the car can get a paltry 22 miles per gallon).
A hybrid system does not make a car “green”, it just makes a car a little less of a bad thing. (more…)
June 17, 2008
Reuters is reporting a water powered car by a company called Genepax. Almost every source I could find left it at that: you pour in some water (any kind will do) and its generator will separate hydrogen from water, then use the hydrogen to power the vehicle. Just pour in more water to make the car go further. Just like the press release says. Nothing more.
Phew — our energy problems are solved!
(Oh, except for one little thing. Pesky annoying laws of physics. (more…)
June 14, 2008
This week’s flooding in Iowa has created an emergency for its residents, businesses, and the cities affected. With certain notable exceptions (hurricane Katerina) we seem to know what to do after an emergency. We take the actions we must to get back to normal.
We have also seen similar reactions in Juneau, Alaska when an avalanche ripped out their normal hydro-power transmission lines and residents reduced consumption by more than 30%, nearly overnight. People do what they have to do.
One of the outcomes of the flooding this week is that five of six wells used to supply drinking water to the area were compromised. This has created a shortage. And so, the residents will take the actions they need to. This quote is from the New York Times:
The Linn County Emergency Management Agency warned that the water shortage could last weeks. “It’s not conserve water because the world is going to be better because of it,” Dustin Hinrichs, a spokesman for the agency, told The Gazette. “It’s conserve water because we might not have any tomorrow.”
And it is in this statement that I see both reason for hope, and reason to be discouraged.
(more…)
June 8, 2008
Discovery has a new channel called Planet Green, available on cable. There are a whole set of shows, all with a green theme of one kind or another. We have watched a few and they are varied and interesting. (more…)
It’s hot here in Boston — mid-90s Saturday through Tuesday. But we’re cool so far here in our house. 
Here are my thermometer readings from yesterday.
No energy was used to keep the house this cool. And today, it’s still cool and comfortable. And quiet. I am very comfortable.
We have no air conditioners. (more…)
June 6, 2008
Windows XP will not go into standby or hibernation in many cases. As I learned a few weeks ago after installing my Smart Strip and measuring the result with my Kill-A-Watt, when the computer is on, it uses a lot of electricity. But my Windows XP PC would not go into standby mode or hibernate. I believe I have finally solved my stand by issues.
(Update, 10/2008: See comments and responses below for troubleshooting and a updated windows hibernate and standby problem post I am maintaining as further information becomes available)
(Update, 2/2009: I am going to try to highlight notable comments in the comments thread below, as there are some good ones)
When the computer is on, it uses around 68 Watts. With the Smart Strip, when the monitor is off, other devices are also turned off, but it still draws 28 to 30 Watts. Standby gets me down to almost nothing, Hibernate gets me to nothing. Now my computer goes into “suspend” (sleep, stand by) all by itself, just as it’s supposed to. (more…)
