My Daily Impact: August 31, 2011

My Daily Impact: August 31, 2011

This is the twelfth posting to my blog.

Yesterday, I did get breakfast at Ikea, and I enjoyed it. Beside the napkin in the trash, there was the washing of the dishes and the travel that the food made.I rode over on the e-scooter which was solar charged at home, so at least there was zero impact from my trip. I did purchase a lamp at Ikea. It is a desk lamp with an LED bulb. This type of lamp is bright for its 4 watts of power consumption, and at $ 9.99 is a good deal too.

I completed installation of the second window in the garage, and I am pleased with the results. Not only does my garage look better, I now have a better cross breeze going through there. I have not disassembled the old windows yet, but the aluminum will be recycled. One of the panes of glass is broken, so it goes in the trash, but I am not sure what I will do with the other three.

Dinner was at home thanks to Green Giant and Gordon's. I am not sure if frozen food has a greater impact than other types, but probably. I just like the convenience of having good food that can be stored for a decent length of time.

Total grid power use for Tuesday was 9 KWh. The house had not seen that low of a number since the beginning of July.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

I had the usual glass of OJ (from a can of concentrate), a banana, and some cereal. I also made some coffee before going over to my neighbor Jean's house. She found some documents that her late husband Carl had concerning our lake and the construction of the road between us and Universal Studios. I was able to find proof that the City of Orlando agreed not to drain into our lake. This was agreed to in 1988, and my neighbors and I intend to keep them to this promise.

We are fortunate to live on a lake with clear, clean water. The city wanted to alleviate the occasional flooding that happens on our road by constructing a five-foot diameter pipe putting all of that street runoff into our lake. If they were going to attempt to clean the water first, it may not be so bad, but to just dump all of that nasty water into a clear lake is criminal.

I rode the e-scooter down to Panera to write this blog, people watch, and have some more coffee. I'm using my own mug, but I used a napkin and a plastic stirrer which will go into the trash. Maybe I will take the napkin home, because it did not get dirty!

Later today, I will caulk the outside of the new garage windows, and do some yard work. I hope that I can keep power use down today, and perhaps have a second single-digit KWh reading tomorrow.

My Daily Impact: August 28, 29 and 30, 2011

My Daily Impact: August 28, 29 and 30

This is the 12th posting to my blog.

Sunday Evening, August 28th

I stopped by my friend Herb's house to help him waterproof his shoulder so he could take a shower. I then rode the e-scooter up to Publix to get something to eat. I decided on the chicken dinner, and it came well packaged. The meal was in a styrofoam comtainer wrapped in plastic. I needed a fork, and this was also wrapped in plastic. I felt like I went backwards with that meal, and wish there was an alternative to all that stuff.

I then rode downtown to start the first Thai Chi group meeting. Out of several people who showed interest, only one person showed up on time, and one person late. We had trouble getting the DVD to play, but with several cleanings, it finally played. I had done this workout before, but was clearly rusty. Next week, we will start with some very simple streatching exercises.

On my way home from downtown, I got pulled over on the e-scooter. It does not have a tag because it is classified as a bicycle. It looks like it should have a tag because it looks like a scooter. The deputy sherif was decent enough about it, but kept insisting that I need a tag. He let me go home after a 10 minute delay. I would like to see this problem cleared up with the DMV.

Total grid energy use was 15 KWh. There were some clouds to cool the afternoon.

Monday, August 29, 2011

I had a bunch of work to do on the computer, and got most of it done. I use my little notebook computer most of the time because it uses very little energy. The screen on my desktop is much easier to read, and I use it when I have intricate work to do, or when I need to make a print.

I ate the usual home breakfast of a banana and some cereal, and later installed one of the new windows in the garage. The old windows were not just ugly, they did not open or close properly. The new window went in fairly easily, but I needed to add some wood framing to the inside to make it mount correctly. I will install the other one later this evening.

Dinner was 49 cent hamburgers from Mac Donnalds. Not the most nutritious meal in the world, but I guess it is OK once in a while. I watched a little TV, and went to bed.

Total grid power use was 13 KWh. This figure reflects some overcast sky in the afternoon, and a cooler evening.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

I will treat myself to an Ikea breakfast today. The short ride on the e-scooter will hopefully not include a stop by the police. I will update the rest of today in the next blog posting, but here are some pictures of my three attempts at e-scooters.

#1: The Baja scooter. It went 30 MPH, and had front disk brakes.

#2: The Konced lithium-ion scooter. It did 30 MPH, but never lived up to its published spec.'s.

#3: The extreme scooter. It is small, only does 20 MPH, but very reliable

My Daily Impact: August 26 and 27, 2011

My Daily Impact: Friday, August 26 and Saturday, August 27

This is the eleventh entry in my blog

Thursday evening, I got Herb back home and settled in at about 8 PM. The round trip in his car was about 20 miles, so we will call it one gallon of gas and 20 pounds of Carbon Dioxide. The average output of CO2 seems to be about 19 or 20 pounds per gallon of gas. I guess that some newer cars do better, and some maybe a little worse. I will have to research what the new carbon footprint scores for new cars mean.

Total grid energy use for the house on Thursday was 17 KWh. That included about 3 KWh for drying my whites.

Friday, August 26, 2011

This is the day that I get my new driver's licence with the motorcycle endorsement. After taking Astro for a walk, it was off to the downtown DMV (I did not see Patty or Selma there) on my trusty e-scooter. Because the e-scooter only goes 20 MPH, and because it has a pedal system, it is classified as an electric bicycle. It needs no tag or driver's licence to opperate. The lady at the DMV was really nice, and actually gave me a second chance on the eye exam. I guess that my vision is now borderline because I had trouble with two of the letters on the test. Off to the eye doctor with me.

Later on Friday afternoon, I went to Home Depot to pick up the new windows for my garage. I contemplated using the scooter with the small bike trailer, but decided to be safe and use the truck instead. I charged most of the batteries with the small charger since going to Herb's, and the trip to Home depot was a short one. The windows will look nice, so I look forward to installing them soon.

On Friday evening, I rode the Honda downtown to meet my friends and have dinner. After sitting for almost two weeks, it was a little sluggish to warm up, but it ran fine. I did have to stop for gas on the way, and had to drop a whole $3.50 into the tank for 1.007 gallons. That calculated to 115 MPG for that tank; this is about average. We went to Pei Wei again, and I got some yummy Thai veggies and tofu. The round trip was about 25 miles for about 4 pounds of CO2.

The grid energy use for the house on Friday was 15 KWh.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

I was up early to meet with my friends for the Saturday morning walk downtown. I rode the e-scooter, and we went to breakfast at Brians. I will now state the usual impacts for eating out: washing of utensils and a plate, and sometimes a cup or glass, a paper napkin into the trash, and the unknown origin of the food (how far did this meal travel before it got into my mouth?). I did forgo any meat (other than eggs), and did not have any coffee. I must add that I got a cup of coffee earlier (in my mug) from Panera.

On the way home, I stopped at a garage sale, and found a nice little foot pump for bike and scooter tires. My front tire3 was a little low anyway, and the pump worked very well. The price of $2.00 was right, and I will carry that on the scooter instead of buying any more Fix-a-Flat.

Once I got back home, it was time to wash my sheets. Nice clean rain water for the wash, and a single rince with municipal water. I was also able to wash some other odds and ends with the sheets. It was dry and windy when the washing machine finished, so onto the clothesline everything went. About 20 minutes later the sky darkened, and there was the sound of thunder. Everything had to come off of the line.

The sheets were dry enough to go onto the bed, and the rest had a short 5 minute run in the dryer to get mostly dry. Since there were three hand towels, this short stint in the dryer actually helped make the towels soft. I found that towels get like sandpaper if they are allowed to dry fully on the line, but a short turn in the dryer will cure this, that is as long as the towels are a bit damp from the line.

Later, it was off to downtown again. I probably make about ten round trips to downtown and back each week, and I have been for years now. Most all of my friends live there or beyond, so it is a convenient meeting place.

I used to drive my car there each time using gas until I got the truck. Then I drove it almost all the time until I decided to reduce my electricity use by riding the bike. The bike worked very well whenit was reasonably cool, but the heat made for a smelly me when I got to my destination. Then, I got my first electric scooter. It was really nice, but there was always a problem with the batteries. When the batteries no longer held a charge, the manufacturer bought the scooter back. I must say that Baja does a good job standing behind their products.

When I got he refund from Baja, I found another electric scooter made by Konced. I bought it on line from BJ's, and thought that it would be awesome. It had Lithium-Ion batteries, and was quoted as having a range of 40 miles at 35 MPH. The scooter never lived up to these figures, and I sent it back. It took quite a while before I got the credit from BJ's. I found e-scooter # 3 on Craigslist. It was not working when I bought it, but the guy only wanted $65.00 for it. After a new speed controller and some new batteries (about $350.00), it is my most efficient non-human-powered mode of transportation.

I really want some nice American-made elecrtic two-wheeled vehicles!!!
Well, back to Saturday night. Four of us went to the golden trough (GoldenCoral) for dinner. I had one eight-ounce steak, and some shrimp and scallops. The rest of my meal was veggies and fruit, and dessert. A little more restraint than my usual pound or more of steak! The four of us shared a ride to the restaurant for a round trip of about 12 miles and about 12 pounds of CO2.

Total grid energy use for the house was 17 KWh. This included 5 KWh for charging the truck for the 20 miles put on it Thursday and Friday. Some of the batteries still need topping off, but I can do this with solar power. I have been able to save power by using the small chargers to top-off the batteries. When I let the big charger complete its cycle, the truck only got about 2 miles per KWh. Now I can stretch it to quite a bit more. The truck also is more efficient when driven a lot. Since I now use other forms of transportation; my truck might be better off in somebody else's hands.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

I slept in some today, and didn't get Astro out for his walk until about 9:15. We had just started down the sidewalk when Walla (my neighbor's Husky) met us. Well, how could I refuse Astro some good play time; so off the leash he went. They played for about 20 minutes, and we all enjoyed every minute of it. After drying Astro off, it was off to Panera for a bagel and coffee. That is where I am writing this blog. I like to watch people while writing; it makes it much more enjoyable.

I ordered my bagel with two butters, but no knife or napkin. I brought my own. There was no funny looks from the guy at the counter, and I managed to keep some stuff out of the trash. I know that the bagel was baked locally, but as always, the coffee has some mileage on it.

I will update the rest of the day's impacts on the next blog, and also add some much-needed pictures.

My Daily Impact: August 22, 23, 24, and 25, 2011

My Daily Inpact: August 22, 23, 24, and 25

This is the tenth entry in my blog.

On Monday night, August 22, I drove the truck downtown to meet my friend Bret for dinner. I drove the truck for two reasons: It was threatening rain, and Bret often lets his roommate borrow the car. The plan was to go to Sweet Tomatoes, but we ended up having food at the center. There was a buffet set out for the HIV testers, and I was invited to join in. There was a nice pasta marinera, and fried, breaded chicken breast. This piece of chicken would be the first meat I ate since the big bar-b-que I finished on Friday afternoon. We went to Pei Wei Friday night where I had a meal with tofu and vegies. Saturday was Sweet Tomatoes, and Sunday was Jason's Deli for salad bar. I like to have such yummy vegie offerings.

Monday's grid power use was 18 KWh, and this did not include charging the truck. This is about average for a hot day with no rain. There was a little rain in the evening, but it did not cool off too much. There is also a problem with the central A/C unit. If it is allowed to turn itself on by the thermostat, it will not cool.

Unfortunately, on Monday evening, I neglected to shut the unit off before leaving the house. The fan ran the whole time, and caused about 3 KWh extra use. I will have this repaired soon.

Tuesday, August 23

I was back to motorcycle training class at the Harley Davidson dealer at 8 AM. I was able to ride the e-scooter  and plug it in there. Since it is only about 3.3 miles from my house, I apriximate less than 100 watt-hours of outside power use. I was responsible for some use of gas because we were on the range training with the motorcycles. We used 500 cc Buell motorcycles, and judging by the way they ran, are not very efficient. We were also just idling most of the time, and the exhaust stunk of unburned fuel. I would like to see a nice electric motorcycle produced in our country.

When I got home, I plugged in the truck, and turned on the A/C. I stayed home most of the rest of the day except to get some stuff from Publix, and get some chicken moggets from Mac Donnalds. I again rode the e-scooter, and was able to keep overall power use down for the day. Total KWh for Tuesday was 25 which included 10 KWh for the 24 miles driven in the truck.

Wednesday, August 24

Back to the Harley dealer for the last day of Motorcycle training. More gas, and more nasty exhaust. The same extra power use for plugging the scooter in there, and three Mac Donnald's hamburgers for dinner. I also had some Green Giant frozen vegies, a banana, and various packaged snacks. These snacks consisted of granola bars, gummy fruit, and some peanuts from a big container. It is hard to avoid packaging when dealing with snack food. I do try to minimize it whenever possible, but it seems that everything has so much wrapping.
Total grid KWh use for Wednesday was 14. There was a nice cooling afternoon rain whiched helped keep this number down.

Thursday, August 25

I took Astro for his morning walk, and his best girlfriend Snickerdoodle was out in her yard ready to play. She is confined to her yard with an invisible fence, but her yard is large enough for her and Astro to play without her getting zapped by the collar she wears.

It was time to wash my whites today. I was out of socks, and almost out of underwear. Because we have had so much rain lately, the water in my rain barrels is clean enough to use for wash water. This cuts the 36 gallon normal use of water down to about 18 gallons. I use the electric dryer to dry my socks and underwear, but today, I was able to catch the dryer before it ran too long. Three KWh got the load almost completely dry. I laid out all of the socks on my bed to let the elastic part of the socks dry completely.

After doing laundry, I e-scootered over to Ikea for breakfast. One napkin in the trash, and a plate, spoon and fork to wash. I used my mug for my coffee. I guess I could get my breakfast without bacon, but it tastes so good. I am trying to reduce my impact not trying to have no impact.

My friend Herb is having surgery on his shoulder today. I offered to drive him to the surgery center, and bring him home. I was going to use my truck to do the full trip, but because he is having work done on his right shoulder, I thought it would be better to use his car. Using his car means using gas, but it also allows him to buckle into the rear seat without having the belt go across his right shoulder. I am at the doctor's office now writing this blog. I did have to drive the truck to his house because there is the threat of rain all day today (thanks Hurricane Irene).

While waiting for Herb to have his work done, I walked over to Subway for a sandwich. I got the Buffalo Chicken Sub to eat there. The person behind the counter automatically started to put the sub into a plastic bag. I was able to stop her, and also return 4 of the 6 napkins she gave me. The sub was wrapped in a wax paper sheet, and that was plenty. It was a sloppy sub, so I got full use out of those two napkins.

After driving Herb home and getting him settled, I went home and had some of those Green Giant frozen veggies that I got on sale. I watched a little TV while the house cooled down, and went to bed. Total grid KWh use for the house was 17 which included 3 for the dryer. I only used two small chargers on the truck, so that probably accounted for about 1 KWh.

This morning, I got some good news. My wind generator has been shipped. I ordered it about a week ago, and they had to wait until they got one in before shipping it out. It will make a maximum of 400 watts, and be a welcome supplement to my solar array. If that thing was on my roof today, it would be making lots of power, again thanks to Hurricane Irene. I am looking forward to installing that windmill next week!

My Daily Impact: August 20 and 21, 2011

My Daily Impact: August 20, 21, and 22

This is my ninth posting to my blog.

On Friday, August 20, after posting to this blog at Panera, I went back home to do some chores. I rode the e-scooter downtown to meet with friends again. I was able to plug in once there, so I added about 150 watt-hours of outside power to my grid power use for the day. We went out to Pei Wei for dinner, and it was served on plastic plates which were then washed and re-used, as were the stainless utensils and plastic cup. The napkin, a large, thick napkin, came back home with me ( I used the same paper towel which I used to dry my hands from the bathroom). The ride home saw some light sprinkles of rain, but was pleasant. Grid power use for Friday was 15 KWh.

On Saturday morning, I went downtown on the e-scooter to walk with my friends. There was no flat tire to deter me this time. I got some coffee from Panera in my mug, and used a plastic stirrer and two sugar packets. We went to P-house for breakfast afterwards which meant more washed utensils and flatware, and a napkin and sugar packets for the trash. I then rode down to the flea market and got some (local?) plum tomatoes. Then it was off to Bass Pro Shops for some motorcycle gloves. These came from China, and included a plastic bag too small to use for garbage.  I charged the scooter twice for about 250 watt-hours of outside power.

I returned home to do some nice napping, and then went back downtown to meet with friends again. I was running late, and knew that charging the scooter was not an option, so I took my truck. I was at least able to give Kenny a ride to Sweet Tomatoes, so at least he saved some gas. Several plates and bowls went into the dishwasher with the utensils, and the paper napkin went into the trash. Truck mileage was 27 and KWh for the day ( not including the truck) was 14.

Sunday morning, I went to church on the e-scooter, then to breakfast at Shannons, then to the library. The usual washing of dishes and utensils, and one napkin into the trash. The e-scooter handled this 25 mile round trip with relative ease and 250 watt-hours of outside power.

I got home and did a load of laundry while the truck charged. I was able to use rain water for the wash, and line dry my shorts. The t-shirts and towels went into the dryer, and through my oun inattention went for the full cycle. I usually empty the dryer when my stuff is a little damp, and hang them on hangers to complete the drying process. I am estimating that the dryer used 3-4 KWh for the complete cycle as opposed to 2 for the shorter one.

I went back into town for dinner with friends on the e-scooter, and we ended up at Jason's Deli. I had a nice salad bar, and used one napkin with the waahed utensils and two bowls. The scooter ride home was very pleasant, and it was a big mileage day for my little electric two wheeler. Total KWh for the day was a whopping 28. This included 11 for charging the truck, 3 for the dryer and aproximately 14 for the house.

Monday morning meant the first day of motorcycle licence endorsement class. I have been riding the Hondas without the correct licence for a full year. The class is at the Harley dealer nearby, and I was able to ride the e-scooter there easily. Class was interesting, and I look forward to Wednesday when I can ride the Honda again.

Looking forward to riding again, LEGALLY! 

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will be having the driving part of our classes. This means that we will be using the motorcycles and the gas in them. It has been over a week since I used any gas, and I like to go as long as possible without doing so. I guess I really should count the several times a week that I ride in others cars, but I try to offset this with giving rides in my truck. It would be nice if the truck would seat more than one passenger, but it does haul stuff pretty well.

Tonight, I am meeting my friend Bret for dinner. I will not be able to easily plug in, and the weather looks a bit threatening, so it is the tuck again. I must admit that it is nice to sit on a real seat and listen to music while driving, but I also like the open feeling of riding the scooter.

My Daily Impact: August 19, 2011

My Daily Impact: August 19, 2011

This is my 8th post in my blog.

Yesterday afternoon, I returned home from my errands, and took Astro for a walk. I wanted to see if his doggy friends from around the corner were available for play time before I took him to the dog park. We walked to Lucky's house, and the dogs were not out. I did see Mike working outside, and I waved to him. As we started back home, I heard Hanna start barking. Hanna is a St Bernard, and she is the alpha dog of the household. As I turned around, I saw Snickerdoodle and Duncen were with her. Snickerdoodle is Astro's favorite girlfriend, a Labro-doodle. She was visibly happy to see her friend was there for a visit. Duncan is a terrier, and also likes to play with Astro.

I let my boy loose, and the three had a great old time. Hanna mostly barks at my boy, and sometimes chases him around, Astro is way too quick for her, and sometimes taunts her by sneaking up behind her and sniffing her butt. I really enjoy seeing them all play together.

Since Astro got some good play time in, we did not take the truck to the dog park. This saved about 7 KWh. After a shower at home, I checked the weather radar to see that I could probably sneak my e-scooter over to meet with my friends at 7 PM. I got lucky and made it there bone dry. Kenny and I went out for bar-b-que after, and I had a huge helping of pulled pork (there is that meat thing again). I have to admit that I let the special of the evening override my ecological side. Pork is especially troubling for me because they are so much smarter than cows are. I also had left-overs, and because Kenny gave me a ride to the restaurant, I got one of those small styrofoam containers.

My ride home was a little bit wet. The major downside of any two-wheeled vehicle is the vulnerability to the elements. I had a poncho, and I was able to keep mostly dry. The scooter sat charging at the meeting room while we ate, so there was about 200 watt-hours of power that were not included in the 12 KWh grid power use for the day.

This morning, I mowed the front yard. I have a pretty big yard, and I usually mow it over two diferent days. For our planet's sake, I sold my gas riding mower three years ago, and switched to an electric push mower. It does a great job, and uses very little power, but the width of 19 inches makes for a lot of swaths of cutting. I would like to see an electric mower with a cutting width of about 30 inches. I may try to build one myself.
After mowing and taking a shower, I rode the e-scooter up to Walmart to return one of the items I bought on Monday (when I lost my wallet). I bought a pair of shorts which were on sale, and this extra pair will help spread the time between summer wash loads. I did the same thing with socks and underware earlier this year so that I can always have a full load in the machine when I run it. Sometimes, it may be almost too full, but an extra rainwater rince/wash before the final fresh-water rince helps get everything clean and fresh.

I went to Panera Bread after returning home from Walmart, and ended up with a new plastic knife and napkin with my bagel. I forgot to order it without, and now have yet another plastic knife to wash. I did have my coffee mug, and at least saved that extra paper.

I will be heading downtown soon to meet with some friends, and will take the e-scooter again. I will complete my day's impact on tomorrow's post

My Daily Impact August 16, 2011 and August 17, 2011

This is the seventh entry in my blog.

Yesterday afternoon, I lost my wallet. That really sucks. I rode the e-scooter up to Walmart (serves me right for shopping there in the first place (because it is evil)), and ost my wallet either at the register, or somewhere along the way home. It makes me feel like such an idiot. At east it has been about 25 years since last loosing one. That meant an extra trip to Wamart, but at least it was on the most efficient ride I have. I made lots of calls last night to cancel credit cards, and at least no one had used them yet.

Grid power use yesterday was 16 KWh. Again, there was help from the skies above in the form of cool rain. I did not eat too much yesterday, and the thing with the most mileage on it was the package of Green Giant frozen vegies.

Today, I went to Ikea for free breakfast, and only used one napkin. The plate, cup, tray, spoon and fork went into the dishwasher. At least that store utilizes solar water heaters. I then went to Target for a new wallet. It is made of leather, and came from China. My new wallet certainly has some mileage on it already. It would seem that with all of the beaf consumed in this country that there would be a good supply of leather right here in this country, and even in this state.

It is time to have some dinner, and it wil be one of those bacon-wrapped filets from Aldi along with some more of those Green Giant frozen vegies (buy one get one free at Publix this week). After I finish my walk downtown Saturday morning, I will check out the farmer's market in Winter Park to try to get some local veggies.

Wednesday, August 17

I had a slow day. I caught some type of alergy or summer cold, and I did not feel like doing much. On top of the way I felt, the sky was overcast most of the day. Power use for Tuesday and Wednesday was 15 KWh each. The cooler temperatures due to rain again helped keep this power use down. Thankfully, there was still enough hot water in the tank to take a nice shower.

I did finally go out to the library and to Mc Donnalds. I used the e-scooter, and all of the charging was here at home. I got four hamburgers at Mickey D's because they are only 49 cents on Monday and Wednesdays. Here we go with that meat thing again, but what can I say.

Today, I am meeting my friend Michael at Ikea for breakfast. I will bring my own mug, and use only one napkin. Later today, I am taking Astro to the dog park. It has been exactly one year since I brought him home from the pound, and I wanted to celebrate with him. This means using the truck, and some extra power from the grid. We will see how much extra this will bring up average consumption.

The following picture shows how I try to keep the hot sun off of the front of my house. The extra shade curtain is only necessary August through October.

Daily Impact: August 13, 14, and 15, 2011

This is the fifth posting in my blog.

I had a busy weekend, and therefore I did not post individual updates for Saturday or Sunday. Here is an update of the impacts I had on the environment.

Friday: I rode my Honda downtown to meet with some friends for dinner. We went to Too Jays, and I had a nice Bistro Steak Salad. There was about 7 ounces of steak on this salad, and that gave this otherwise benign meal a fairly large carbon footprint. The amount of grain that a cow eats, the methane produced from cow farts, he processing, and transportation all add up. The meal was served on porcelain plates with stainless flatware and a plactic drinking glass. All of these had to be washed, and the paper napkin thrown into the trash.

The round-tip ride on the Honda that night was about 24 miles, and therefore consumed about 0.2 gallons of gas for 4 pounds of carbon dioxide. I also shared a piece of cake with a friend, and that put a plastic fork into the trash. The total power use for the house on Friday was 18 KWh.

Saturday morning, I rode the e-scooter to downtown to meet with some friends for our weekly walk. On the way, the back tire started to go flat, and I put some fix-a-flat into it. That stuff is nasty. It is hard to get it into the tire without getting a bunch of it onto my hands. It has a petrolium stink and a sticky feel. Yuck. It did get me to the parking garage where I plugged in for about 150 watt-hours of juice.

When I returned to the scooter, the tire was flat again. More fix-a-flat and some compressed air from the firehouse and Mears bus maintenance facility got me about half-way home. The other half was pushing the scooter along the side of the road. I got some good excersize that morning, but also spread some nasty fix-a-flat along my path. Other impacts included some sugar packets form Panera for coffee in my mug, and two plastic stir sticks into the trash. Food was PBJ and cereal, and one paper plate into the trash. I rode the Honda to Kenny's where we took his car to Royce's house for a card game. Carbon dioxide was about 20 pounds from his car, and about 4 pounds from the Honda. Total grid energy use from my house was 15 KWh. This was a little lower thanks to some afternoon rain to cool things down.

Sunday was a lazy day. I woke up at about 8:45, and took Astro for a walk. Astro is responsible for some global impact of his own which I try to minoimize. He pees and poops along the street in my neighbor's yards. Every so often, I take a shovel and bucket and collect his droppings which are then burried in my yard. I buy his food in the largest bag possible, and try not to over-feed him. Astro was a rescue from the pound, and even though he has some impact on our planet, he is very much worth it.

Breakfast was two eggs fried with cheese. The Publix eggs are most likely from a nearby farm, but the cheese probably has a few miles on it. I tried to make some grits, but the supply that I had left in my cabinet went bad, and had to be thrown out. I threw the grits into my yard because they are bio-degradable. I rode the Honda to downtown again for dinner with Kenny, and that 21 miles put about 3 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Our Dinner was a sub sandwich with roast beef served on a plastic tray lined with wax paper. There is that meat thing again, and the transport of all of those ingredients included in my sub. Total grid energy use for Sunday was 16 KWh. This number was again helped from some afternoon rain. I alos have put up the shade curtain for the front window; the light of the sun has changed to where it shines on the front of the south part of my house.

Today (Monday) I had some OJ and a banana, and fixed the scooter tire. I had ordered a new tire and tube about two months ago, and nursed the old patched tube and balding tire along since then. It sucked having to handle that tire and wheel with old, dry fix-a-flat all over it. I washed the wheel and old tire off, and installed the nice, new tire and tube on the scooter. I kept the old tube and tire for possible re-use. The tube has a patch and a new leak, and the tire is pretty bald. I will have to weigh my options whan deciding weather to re-use either of them.

I Rode the scooter here to Panera, and it seems fine. I ordered my bagel today, and it came on a reusable plastic plate (which Panera will wash). I did not get a plastic fork or a napkin because I asked that I not get them. The person who prepared my bagel just smiled when I pulled out my own knife and napkin. I did use a paper towel in the bathroom, and that will go into the trash with the napkin I brought from home. There are also the four sugar packets which went into the trash after the contents went into my two cups of coffee. If I was at Ikea, there would have been sugar from a jar, and hand drying from a jet blower.

What About Using The Toilet?

When I am at home, I use water from my rain barrels to flush my toilet. It took some practice to get the right technique down, but I can usually get a good flush with about 3 gallons of rain water. I also use toilet paper. I use it sparingly, but I use it, and will continue to do so. My friends at Dancing Rabbit use it too, and it is just plain cleaner than the left hand and a bowl of water (yuck!). I do admire our Indian friends for not using paper, but I will stick to my Charmin!

My house happens to have a septic tank. I try to take good care of it (by using only minimal amounts of bleach), but I do now know how it affects the water quality around my house. I know that the Rabbits way of reuse is much better, but I am not quite ready to do that either. I am lucky to be a man, and to have a private back yard. That really saves a lot of flushes.

Daily Impact: August 12, 2011

This is the forth post in my blog.

Yesterday's grid power use was 18 KWh. This was about normal for a day with a high temperature of 95 degrees. I also used about 0.35 gallons of gas going up to my friend Royce's house. Riding the Honda was the most efficient way I could go there because the round trip was 41 miles, and the electric scooter would not make it. We had fun swimming in his nice, cool pool. It was truely refreshing.

I bought some goodies for us to munch on while there: dried cranberries, yogurt-covered raisins, and some fruit punch. I am not sure of the origin of any of these items, and this will warrent further research. The packaging was plastic for the food (will go into the trash), and an aceptic container for the punch (which will be recycled). I enjoyed the swim, the company, and the ride despite the 7 pounds of carbon dioxide produced by the scooter (0.35 gallons x 20 pounds per gallon).

Later yesterday evening, I met with some friends, and had dinner. I had two slices of pizza, and used two plates, a knife and a fork which had to be washed. I also used a paper napkin and a paper towel from the bathroom. I must say that the electric hand driers (especially the new jet-air type) save a lot of paper without using too much electricity. The round trip of twenty miles to dinner was on the electric scooter. Most of the charging was included in the 18 KWh at home, but about 150 watt-hours was from an outside source.

Laundry Day

This morning, I washed my sheets. I do this every 7-10 days. This time it had been 10 days, and my sheets were still OK. I do make sure that I am clean when I go to bed, so there is not much stank ot build up. We have been blessed with a lot of rain lately, so the water in my rain barrels is plentiful and clean. This clean rain water makes for great wash water in the machine, but I still use municipal water for the rince. This means a savings of about 18 gallons in my 1986 model Kennmore.

Sheets are perfect for the clothes line. They are easy to hang, they smell and feel great after they dry, and using the line instead of the dryer saves about 3 KWh of electricity. The clothesline is the most cost effective energy saving device I have installed at my house.

This morning, I got up, walked Astro, had some OJ and cereal, and rode the e-scooter to Panera. Today, I got a bagel. The bagel came on a plastic plate (must be washed) with a plastic fork (which I will wash and reuse), a napkin (trash), and two butters (plastic containers, trash). I brought my own coffee mug, and I guess I will start bringing my own knife from now on. Get ready Panera servers, here comes the guy who just wants the bagel on a plate with no napkin or knofe; what a weird-o!

I have now become that guy who comes into the restaurant with his own utensils and to-go boxes! Look-out its the crazy green guy again! Don't let him catch you throwing away a perfectly good napkin!

What The Heck Made Me Start This Blog?

I am a mad scientist. Actually, I enjoy collecting data, and taking steps to improve the numbers. Years ago, I watched a program called "Thirty Days". This program was part of a series created by Morgan Spurlock. The premice of the series was to take a person (or people) from the comfort of their normal life, and insert them into a new environment. The particular episode I saw took two people from New York City, and placed them into an ecovillage called Dancing Rabbit.

Dancing Rabbit is a community of about fifty people who live their lives in the most sustainable way possible. The only connection to "the grid" is a phone line for DSL internet. They grow most all of their own food, they live in housed made of straw bales and clay (along with some other materials), and share three vehicles among themselves (which they use very sparingly). Any electricity they use comes from the sun or the wind, and they utilize locally-grown wood for heat in the cold Missouri winters. Water comes from the sky, and is stored in cisterns  and their poop gets recycled into natural fertilizer (a process which is time-consuming and labor-intensive to remove harmful bacteria).

Three years ago, I had the privelige of visiting these champions of the environment, and I found them to be some of the nicest, down-to-earth people whom I have ever met. They also have great attitudes, even when the relentless rain turns their pathes into straems of mud! I almost considered trying to become part of their community, but Northeast Missouri is a little too much of a change from central Florida.

If you have a curiocity about this village, subscribe to their weekly newsletter. You can subscribe by visiting WWW.Dancingrabbit.ORG, and signing up. I always enjoy seeing a message from them in my indox, and I hope you do too.

Daily Impact: August 11, 2011

This is the third post in my blog.

I ended up doing fairly well yesterday as far as my impact to the planet. I had some shortcomings, but overall, I managed to keep my footprint pretty small for an August day in Orlando.

The amount of grid power used yesterday was 15 KWh. The usual amount for this time of year for me is 20, so the overcast skies helped quite a bit. I did a small amount of scooter charging at a parking garage downtown, but that should only amount to about 100 watt-hours. I went to Panera to do some studying of Spanish, but due to leaving my wallet at home (D-OH), I did not use any of their utensils or plates.

The Dreaded Take-out Container:


On Saturday night, some friends and I went to Il Pescatore Restaurant, and I brought home some leftovers in a Styrofoam container. Yesterday, I finished the stromboli within, and the container went into the trash (after Astro licked it clean). Publix used to have a container to recycle these things, but that is no longer true. Today, I will make it a point to put some containers in each of my vehicles so I can avoid this use of nasty Styrofoam.

Mi lavaplatos en siesta ( my dishwasher at rest )

No Such Thing as a Free Breakfast:


This morning, I rode the e-scooter to Ikea for a free breakfast. The store is only three miles from my house, and the price can't be beat. There are however the impacts of dish washing, the paper napkin, and of the food itself. Who knows where all of that food actually comes from, Sweden? I know that the bacon has a big impact on our planet because of the way pigs are raised in our country. The food it takes to feed a pig, and the disposal of the manure is a problematic process. There is also the import of the coffee from South America to think about. I did bring my own coffee mug again, so at least they do not have to wash my mug.

I think I will visit my friend Royce today. He lives 20 miles from me, and that requires the use of my gas scooter. I usually go several days at a time without using gas, but today will be an exception. The internal combustion engine will hopefully become a thing of the past soon. Beside putting out carbon dioxide, it also creates a lot of heat. I would like to see a reliable two-wheeled electric vehicle that has a range of at least 50 miles. Until then, I guess I will have to make due with my Honda at 115 MPG.

As always, I will update the rest of my impacts today as part of tomorrows post.

Daily Impact: August 10, 2011

This is the second post of my new blog. After thinking about this project, it has become clear that this will be quite the undertaking. It is amazing how every little thing I do has an impact on our world. I am sure that I will omit some things at first, but I will endeavor to be as thorough as possible.

Yesterday, I used 12 KWh from the grid. This is a low number for the summer in Orlando, and this low number can be attributed to the overcast skies and cooling rain that we had all day yesterday. For the remainder of the evening yesterday, I had some more impacts to report.

For dinner last night, I had a bacon wrapped filet which I bought at Aldi. All meat products have a big impact on this planet, and I try to eat alternative foods. The filet was packaged in a plastic container which went into the trash. The package did not state the origin of the meat, but I am pretty sure it is not a local source. I also had some canned tomatoes and a sweet onion with the filet. The can was a Publix brand, and the origin was also not listed on the label. I am also not sure what the origin of the onion was either. This is my first lesson learned after starting this project; Many products do not state their origin on the label, only the distributor.

After dinner, I rode the electric scooter over to home depot. I ordered two new windows for my garage. All of the windows except those two were replaced within the last fifteen years. The other windows are bronze, and bronze windows are only available through special order. The window factory is in Louisiana, and they will be delivered to the store along with the regular deliveries. I will remove the glass from the old windows, and recycle the the aluminum frames.

I did plug in tn the scooter while shopping last night, but the outside power used was probably less than 150 watt-hours. Aside from my bikes, the electric scooter is the most efficient mode of transportation I have. It has a 500 watt motor which has a top speed of 20 MPH. If there was no loss from the charging of the batteries, the scooter would get 40 miles per KWh. (20 miles per 500 watt-hours = 40 miles per 1000 watt-hours = 40 miles per KWh) I think that the actual mileage is closer to 30 per KWh. The stated mileage for the Nissan Leaf is 4 Miles per KWh, so this scooter is pretty efficient. It is my ride of choice when my destination is within its 17 mile range.

This morning, I started my day with a glass of orange juice. I mix this OJ from a can of concentrate. I find this to be cost effective, and the taste is fine. I buy the cans at Aldi, and they state that the juice is a product of the USA, Mexico, and Brazil. I will shop for juice that is canned here from now on. I live in Florida after all. I also had a banana, and it probably came from South America. Banana trees grow here, and maybe it is time to plant some. I will also have some cereal (origin unknown) and some milk (unknown origin, but the package specifies no growth hormones were used at least).

The origin of my food is a complication which I did not anticipate with this project. I thought that it would be as simple as just watching what I do to get around and to live in my home. I hope that I can find local options to my food needs without it costing me too much money. I am not working full time right now, so watching my pennies is important.

I will update the blog with the rest of my day's impact later.

Daily Impact: August 9, 2011

This is the first entry in my new blog which is named “My Daily Impact”.

I will share what I do every day that has an impact on the environment. Along the way, I will share the things I have done in the past which help me lessen this impact.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Today is an overcast and rainy day in Orlando. This really helps keep my electricity use down because the A/C does not have to run very often to keep the house at a reasonable temperature. I will share tomorrow how much electricity I used today. Yesterday my house used 19 KWh of electricity from the grid.

While I was walking the dog this morning, I saw my neighbor’s grand daughter roller blading up the street. She stopped me to ask if I could give her a ride to school. Her school is about a mile away, and it was very humid. I agreed to give her a ride in my truck. The round trip will cost about one KWh which will be included in my total power use for today. My truck runs on electricity, and I will share more about that in future blogs.

When I returned home, I found that I was running short on milk. I like to get my milk at Aldi because it only costs $2.49 per gallon. I also purchased some other odds and ends which had plenty of packaging. I will include those impacts as they are used. I rode my electric scooter there and back, and probably used less than 1 KWh for that round trip. This will also be included in my total power usage for today which I will share about tomorrow when I read the power meter at 8:30 AM.

After the trip to Aldi, I did some yard work. I filled four 32 gallon trash cans with yard waste, and put them on the curb for tomorrow’s collection. I did some paperwork on the desktop computer, and printed one sheet of paper which was my power bill.

Later, I rode the electric scooter to the library to return some items, and then to Panera Bread for coffee and a snack. I use my own coffee mug, but the pastry came on a plastic reuseable plate (which Panera will wash), a plastic knife and fork ((which went in the trash), and two napkins (which also went in the trash).
Other items which went into the trash today were two yogurt cups, a cereal box, a can from my OJ concentrate, and a napkin. I threw one banana peel into the yard. There will be more stuff going in the trash this evening which I will share later.

My goal in writing this blog is to keep tabs on my impact to the environment, and to try to reduce these impacts where ever possible. I hope to also influence others to reduce their impact.