Practical solutions for people + planet
How are you handling rising fuel costs?
With gas reaching $4 a gallon and home heating oil expected to continue skyrocketing, everyone I’ve talked with is getting serious about conserving.
I’ve seen a few folks riding Vespas, a strange sight here in rural Maine. There’s less traffic. Johnny’s Seeds reports a 20 percent increase in vegetable seed sales as more people start home gardens.
I think these developments are positive signs that people are refusing to be taken hostage by oil companies and I aspire to join them by making changes myself.
So far, I’ve just taken small steps: consolidating errands and carpooling when possible, expanding our vegetable garden , switching off the oil burner for the summer, and attending and helping to organize local events exploring local energy, food security and sustainable livelihoods.
The coolest thing? None of this stuff is onerous. It’s actually interesting, liberating and fun.
I sense a new energy (pardon the pun) expressing itself around the country in everything from hypermiling to local power generation.
Are our individual efforts to conserve fuel and find alternatives to oil enough to catalyze larger change?
What do you think, and how are you dealing with energy issues in your life and community?
I’ve seen a few folks riding Vespas, a strange sight here in rural Maine. There’s less traffic. Johnny’s Seeds reports a 20 percent increase in vegetable seed sales as more people start home gardens.
I think these developments are positive signs that people are refusing to be taken hostage by oil companies and I aspire to join them by making changes myself.
So far, I’ve just taken small steps: consolidating errands and carpooling when possible, expanding our vegetable garden , switching off the oil burner for the summer, and attending and helping to organize local events exploring local energy, food security and sustainable livelihoods.
The coolest thing? None of this stuff is onerous. It’s actually interesting, liberating and fun.
I sense a new energy (pardon the pun) expressing itself around the country in everything from hypermiling to local power generation.
Are our individual efforts to conserve fuel and find alternatives to oil enough to catalyze larger change?
What do you think, and how are you dealing with energy issues in your life and community?
Tags: conservation, energy, gas, hypermiling, local, oil
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Afriendof B on -
Great question Kim!
We put in wood burners this past winter and saved a ton on oil. We are actively trying to reduce our driving. We are letting parts of the lawn go without mowing (also using our grass powered mowers on some parts). The gardens have been expanded. We wear sweaters when its cool, and will use fans instead of AC when it is warm. Much of our food and entertainment are local, and that has been fun.
Looking for ways to bike or use scooters more, but being rural it isn't always feasible.
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Permalink Reply by Kim Ridley on -
Love your grass powered mowers!
We're finding a woodstove really helps with the oil bill. One wrinkle, though is that our oil burner heats the hot water and we're trying to figure out if it makes sense to save for a solar hot water system--they're so expensive!
Transportation is also a tough issue here in rural Maine. A guy we know outfitted his bicycle with a small motor to help with his 10 mile commute to work. Great for the warmer months, at least.
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Permalink Reply by Afriendof B on
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Many places in New Zealand had hot water systems that tied into their wood stoves. They called them wet-back systems. The good ones worked really well. The bad ones tended to explode. Something you could look into. We are looking at an outdoor wood furnace for our home. Less mess inside. It would heat the water, the house, parts of the barn and greenhouse, and operate on about 7 cords of wood.
Solar hot water is the way to go if you can. There are some systems you can build yourself that don't cost as much. There seems to be a premium tacked onto all things green.
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Permalink Reply by Trese Wright on -
A magazine called Mother Earth News had an article not too far in the past about how to build a solar hot water heater.
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Permalink Reply by Lara on -
Jay can teach you how to build a Jungle-style solar heater from a broken, used hot water tank...but you need year-round sun/heat to get better-than-warm water. And it doesn't offer much in the way of water pressure (but would work well for an out-door solar shower). But it definitely comes in handy after a typhoon when there isn't any power! ;)
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Permalink Reply by Gingeroo on -
I was just thinking this morning, as I was riding to work how great I feel.
I woke up early this morning, watered the garden (which is really my feeble and pathetic attempt at a garden in all honesty- but I'm really trying-although the rabbits really appreciate my efforts) Then I hung my clothes out on the clothesline. I put some air in my tires, since it had been a week since I rode, and started my bike ride to work. I wasn't huffing and puffing going up the hills (also a result of week 9 being smoke free), and I arrived at work this morning 10 minutes earlier than usual without even sweating.
So my twice weekly rides to work on my bike just might increase to three or four days since they seem like a cake walk now. I'm feeling healthy, and happy. It gives me an hour in the morning to think and relax and exercise! And I'm barely using my car at all. On the days when I don't ride my pedal bike, I'm riding my motorcycle.
Sometimes I wish I was in town, so I could walk and bike to things easier, but I'm just conscious that since I do live out of town I, too, consolidate on errands and just go in about once a week.
While I'm writing this, I'm over hearing my coworkers talking about moving closer to work...that gas in chicago just hit $4.30...and that there has to be something they can do. I think everyone's efforts will help, I'm optimistic. I know that in order to survive we have to do it differently.
Santa Fe is looking into a municipally owned electricity company, trying to move away from the coal fired power plants in the four corners that currently provide 80% of New Mexico's juice. It feels good to know that the community (even people who don't necessarily like each other) is pulling together for the greater good.
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Permalink Reply by Kim Ridley on
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Hi Ginger,
Thanks for your post--a lovely and inspiring meditation.
How great that you're biking to work! It reminds me of my decision to walk to the office when I worked in Boston. It was 3 miles each way and I felt so great not only about getting the exercise but also because my time was my own: no hassling with traffic or waiting for a bus!
Keep us posted on plans for the municipal electric company and good luck with your garden!
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Permalink Reply by KJD on -
Nice picture of Delicate Arch. Glad to hear you are enjoying the bike ride, I need to do more of that.
This week I rode my Electric motorcycle to work 4 days and worked from home the other day. http://www.zevutah.com/index.html
The motorcycle gets "fueled" by solar power when I get home every night. The only thing I cant figure out is why more people do not drive electric.
I have a car under construction right now, they are really not that hard to build. If we wait for Detroit to solve the oil problem, we are going to all be in a world of hurt.
Cheers,
Kyle
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Permalink Reply by TC on -
For me - I've been inspired to get my scooter out and find a way into work without taking the highway. It is a 30 mile one way trip so I try and carpool with another coworker (who may be moving closer to the office) when I can. I won a mountain bike recently and used that to run the dogs up and down the road today.
The sun is my clothes dryer in summer and not to cold winter days. Frozen jeans are a bit uncomfortable.
There are so many times I think it would be wiser to move back into town - but maybe I just need to be here more.
I'm trying to convince the other 2 houses out here to go in on the purchase of a wind mill to generate our power. At least they are considering it now. When ever one of the households goes into town, we check with each other to see if there is anything we can pick up for each other. It works well, really. In an odd way, it has brought all of us a little closer together.
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Permalink Reply by teogr on
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Here's a link to an interesting blog post from Andrew Leonard on Salon highlighting recent bicycle shortages in Queens (presumably due to increased demand).
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