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11 Comments
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Re: Identifying Behaviors that lead to Tree Planting
2011-10-06 12:04:37 UTC
Dear Jo:
I like your practical list of obligations and implications. I don't know what the problem is but I admire your approach.
I want my shade trees to provide some privacy, flowers and fruit, and require minimum time cleaning up leaves, branches, seeds and suckers. By the way doesn't a tulip tree grow to be mammoth? Maybe you mean magnolia.
My interest is in putting know-how on solar, wind, wave and geothermal energy to work on individual homes to improve air quality. I want this done with little expense and without the need of building huge fields of batteries and electronics and without any batteries in our homes. A want sale of excess energy to the power company (grid? whatever that means) and automatic supplementation by the power company when the sun isn't shining.
I want to know if anyone anywhere is already doing this.
I want them to share there know-how with everyone. I am 90 years old and want some progress while I am still alive.
And I want cooperation not political arguing, philosophizing and wordy theory.
Myrtle Macdonald, Chilliwack BC, Canada.
Myrtle Macdonald
Consultant, Retired
Canada -
Re: How to Show the Cost-Effectiveness of Trip-Reduction over Road-Construction?
2011-09-08 11:44:24 UTC
Goals for Transit:
1. Cost-effectiveness- capital costs, maintenance costs, rents
2. Increased capacity
3. Timing and frequency - how many times a day?
4. Location of parking and stopping - how far from home and destination?
5. Cost of parking
6. Time it takes to travel. Frequency and length of delays due to heavy traffic.
7. Improved freight mobility - trailer transfer from light truck to light rail
8. Small refrigerated containers - Storage at parking places
9. Electric outlets for parking vehicles or containers
10. Alternate fuels - progress of research and implementation
11. Elimination of fine particulates from the air. You live in Seattle. We in Chilliwack suffer greatly from air pollution, much of it from Seattle and Bellingham. Nearly everybody has a perpetual cold or rhinitis,itchy eyes,and ear problems. Asthma and pneumonia are increasing.
I recommend using light railway and trams for fruit and vegetables and passengers. The Union Pacific and Sante Fe trains send heavy freight on the Southern Rwy to and from China and across Canada at Sumas/Huntingdon,Wash/BC. They have large refrigerator cars. Why not small refrigerated containers? Why not frequent passenger trains? The rail line runs near 6 university campuses. The mayors south of the Fraser river are keen on having a network of tram lines and light trains transferable. Vancouver keeps most of the gas tax for north of the Fraser river. A feasibility study by Leewood found the costs of getting light passenger trains going 99 km. from Chilliwack to Scott Road (Patullo Bridge) would be less than for 4 km. of Sky train. The tip would take 90 minutes. At present cars take longer than that. At rush hour they take two hours to go 100 km. Idling raises fumes.
Why continue to bother with commuting by fossil fuel vehicles? Carpooling is nice but not inexpensive and not good for our health.
Myrtle Macdonald, consultant [email protected]
Myrtle Macdonald
Consultant, Retired
Canada -
Re: Woodstove Air Pollution: myth or reallity?
2011-09-08 01:48:53 UTC
The idea of using wood for fuel should no longer be considered sensible, even when modern improvements in wood stove technology have reduced the amount of air pollution. Our forests are rapidly being depleted, and as a result many species of animals, birds and vegetation are going extinct, erosion of hillsides caries away top soil, blocks rivers with gravel, causes floods and destroys salmon fisheries. In many parts of the world centuries ago, heavily forested areas became deserts. Desertification is spreading. That happened because of use of wood for cooking, heating and construction. Most of the Douglas firs of British Columbia are gone and so are the fabulous Cedars of Lebanon. Resistance to development of alternate fuels is based on denial of facts. Where reforestation took place and hillside land was terraced to prevent erosion, humidity increased and birds and animals returned, gardens and orchards thrived again and families had food again. I have this perspective from living many years in the far east and in Africa. Geothermal, solar, wind and wave technology have already been demonstrated as being feasible and not expensive. They also are non-polluting of the air. It is denial to cling to the burning of wood. Don't use the excuse that you are using scrap branches. They can be used for more constructive purposes.
Myrtle Macdonald
Consultant
retired
Canada -
Re: Increasing Recycling Rates at Institutions (hospitals, colleges)
2011-08-11 14:15:19 UTC
There is nowhere to take kitchen waste. My strata bylaws won't allow composting. Will someone please tell me if I should buy and install a garbarator. I keep asking and not getting answers.
Myrtle Macdonald
Consultant
retired
Canada -
Re: Increasing Recycling Rates at Institutions (hospitals, colleges)
2011-08-09 12:31:17 UTC
Pamela:
It is urgent to get on with conservation in ways that are truly understandable. See what you wrote to me at the bottom of this e-mail. "Single Stream Signage" is still incomprehensible theory after you explained it. Surely you don't mean that we are to stop sorting our plastic waste and let the city or county or province/state do it for us? Show the steps involved. Be practical.
Step number one: use English without colloquialisms. Dreaming up slogans like "Single Stream Signage" is not the answer. Even "Single Stream" is more than I can understand. In your efforts to improve the environment use English in ways that are understandable by anyone around the world, whether educated or not, young or old. I have two degrees and do not comprehend these and many other terms which shroud our efforts with failure, or at best slow down progress. People become bored and apathetic by vague ideas.
Step number two is to make the results of our efforts visible. If we can see progress nearby we are encouraged. Taking our refuse "somewhere" doesn't motivate us or increase our confidence. We would be encouraged if
1). If- We were told which industries buy certain kinds of plastic waste,
2). If- What furniture and textiles they manufacture and
3). If- We were told where they sell them.
Step number three: Replace Styrofoam with something biodegradable and then make Styrofoam illegal.
Please care enough to get your ideas across clearly in practical ways. Progress is delayed by vague theories. There is no time to lose. There is a plastic waste island the size of Texas or BC in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and the gills of our fish are filled with bits of plastic. Our air is seriously polluted and the shore line of our Great Lakes has dropped several yards/metres. There is no time to lose.
Myrtle
PS. I sort my plastics, alternate paper, corrugated cardboard and metals and return containers. None of my neighbors do. Show us whether that is worth doing. I am 90 years old and getting tired of wasting my time on non-essentials.
There is nowhere to take organic kitchen waste. My strata bylaws won't allow composting. Will someone please tell me if I should buy and install a garbarator. I keep asking and not getting answers. M
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Re: Single Stream Signage for Receptacles
2011-06-16 11:54:04 UTC
What is single stream signage? In our efforts to improve the environment step number one is to use English in ways that are understandable by anyone, whether educated or not. I have two degrees and do not comprehend this any many other terms which shroud our efforts with failure, or at best slow down progress. People become bored and apthetic by vague ideas.
Myrtle Macdonald
Consultant
retired
Canada -
Re: Single Stream Signage for Receptacles
2011-06-16 11:43:36 UTC
A major concern is Styrofoam and unnumbered plastic used for bubble packaging.
1. Do any facilities recycle Styrofoam and unnumbered plastic for useful purposes?
2. Do any governments local, regional or federal ban the use of Styrofoam and unnumbered plastic?
Myrtle Macdonald, [email protected], Phone 604-795-3690.
Myrtle Macdonald
Consultant
retired
Canada -
Re: Encouraging Water Conservation among Tenants in Low-Income Housing
2011-05-25 17:55:29 UTC
Social marketing would bring limited results because of dealing with symptoms not causes and putting the largest burden on the poor. It is even paternalistic. It discriminates against the poor. Why should people in your social housing complex be asked to save water when people in upper class homes are not? Let the poor have enough water and make it impossible for the rich from have more than they need. To save water please get to basics. Build plumbing equipment, housing and irrigation that naturally use water efficiently. Housing codes should require plumbing innovations that cut down on waste.
The rich and the poor should be integrated into equivalent housing. Social housing may seem a step forward but it is really condescending. Subsidize several apartments anonymously in every middle class apartment building to house the poor, to allow them to pass in dignity.
Besides some people, whether educated or not, just cannot save water when asked, or even encouraged to do.
Many cannot do what we politely ask them to do. For example, my brother who lives with me is very cooperative and kind, yet he refuses to use less water for his showers. We have a 30 gallon hot water tank. He uses up nearly all the hot water for one shower each morning. It is not practical to give him our electricity bill. It does not prove which appliance consumed much. It is impossible to give him our water bill because our strata housing pays for water and sewer. What would I do if there were several people depending on that one tank? There is no other person to shout to him "Hey, who used up all the hot water?"
Children may suffer the most. Attitudes they learn in school may not be practiced or honored by their elders at home.
No, you are on the wrong track. Switch to designing plumbing equipment and apartments where little water and electricity are needed.
America wastes water in many ways. For example, city hall tells people to water lawns for an hour twice a week, but don't prosecute those who do more watering. They ought to ban lawns and ask people to grow vegetables and fruit. In China and South East Asia I saw every square foot is used to grow green vegetables. Every valley is cleared of rubble and the mountains are terraced. The water from rain and springs is all directed to flow evenly through the small fields.
Gardens and orchards also can be watered by water draining from baths and kichens. In Lesotho I saw how kitchen water ran through a sand filter into the fields below. Each field was surrounded with Lucern grass (alfalfa) which has long roots with nodules that convert nitrogen out of the air to fertilize the soil, and which kept the water from rushing down in torrents to carry away top soil. Soil erosion can be prevented. Starvation can be prevented.
In India our soapy bath water ran around papaya trees, resulting in abundant crops.
If you can't use this wise experience, please pass it on to industries, contractors, and politicians who are humble enough to learn from the experiences of other cultures. It is time to learn from the wisdom of the simple.
Sincerely,
Myrtle Macdonald [email protected] 604-795-6390
Myrtle Macdonald
Consultant
retired
Canada -
Re: Encouraging Water Conservation among Tenants in Low-Income Housing
2011-05-22 10:47:44 UTC
I have two suggestions on water conservation:
1. Shower baths are very wasteful both of water and heating. After wetting your body turn off the taps while shampooing your hair and body. Then turn on the shower to rinse off the soap. that saves several gallons of warm water.
2. In Australia a geiser (sp?) is used to heat water while you are using it. there is no hot water tank. A gas flame warms the water while it is running. Perhaps there is alternatively an electric method.
3. In Thailand there are lovely porcelain squat toilets with no flush system. You run water into a mug from a tap beside you. That is enough for your own hygiene and to flush the s-shaped trap of the toilet. There is no odor or unpleasantness, as in some countries.
Myrtle Macdonald
Myrtle Macdonald
Consultant
retired
Canada -
Re: Looking for Low Flow Showerhead Research and Successful Programs
2011-04-04 10:33:10 UTC
Having lived in India for many years I learned a simple method - the "pour bath". I filled warm water into a bucket, sat on a stool or stood over a drain and, using a large tin mug I dipped water from the bucket and pour it all over myself. Then I soaped myself and shampooed my hair too, unless I am in a hurry. Then I poured mugs of warm water all over myself until the suds were rinsed off. I still use this method in Canada, sitting on a stool in my bath tub. My hips and back are too arthritic for me to get down into the tub. Using this simple "pour bath" method quickly I am clean and refreshed. In India all the used water ran through a drain in the wall to the garden to water a papaya tree. In Australia I used a water heater called a geyser which only heated water while the shower tap was on. That conserved heat. Our North American water heaters keep a 30 gallon tank of water warm at all times. What a waste of heat! This is how we got warm water whenever we wanted it a jungle home in India: We had a huge wicker basket and lid made and upholstered inside, with cotton padding. We had a large container and lid made of galvanized metal, and set it inside the basket. Our cook poured very hot water into the tin once a day. This provided enough warm water for up to four baths in 24 hours. Myrtle Macdonald
Myrtle Macdonald
Consulktant
retired
Canada
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