Composting aka life

Composting frankly is expansive then not composting, but still we should practice composting regularly cos composting is purposeful and pays back in the longer run. Composting was being practiced by the ancient Romans and there are traces of practicing composting in many religious scriptures.

Composting occurs due to the activity of microorganisms available in the soil & organic materials. Composting is nature’s recycling process that helps break down organic materials into a nutrient rich soil like substance that is extremely good for plant growth. Some argue that nature does not compost, it only mulches. Well mulching it’s self is the most basic form of composting. Through mulching nature not only saves the fertile layers of soil in the forest from washing away but also maintains a constant cycle of composting. Last weeks mulch would be today’s compost. As composting creates the skin [top soil] in nature so it’s wise to starts composting with the skin of our organic trash.

What to compost:

Composting can turn a lot of our organic trash into fertile organic goodness. If you live in a developing or a third world country then you could do a lot of composting compared to the people who live in developed countries with processed & caned food. Fruit & vegetable peels along with egg shells and dead leaves are some very basic composting ingredients that come out of our kitchens almost every day.

Where to compost:

Compost in your back yard or on your roof top or even in your garage.

Composting pot & process:

If your intend to start with kitchen based composting, a couple of large terracotta pot should be your basic apparatus, placed on top of each other with table tennis ball sized hole at the base of the top one. Now start dumping your organic raw kitchen waste except flesh into the top pot and cover it with your grass clippings or dead leaves and if you feel that the materials are too dry simply sprinkle some water. After about a couple of weeks start shaking the top pot and the broken down compost would pour down to the bottom pot which could be later on used to feed plants and vegetables.

Composting means Life:

A single spade from the middle of a compost bin contains more species of organisms than can be found above ground in the entire Amazon rain forest.

Sustainable living tip of the day

Sustianable living tip of the day is that indoor air is three times more polluted than outdoor air,and according to the EPA, Paints and finishes are among the leading causes.
Paints and finishes release low level toxic emissions into the air for years after application, manufacturers are now producing non-VOC variety of paint. So paint yourselves with nature.

Sustainable living tip of the day

Sustianable living tip of the day is A small, energy efficient car is less polluting than a gas-guzzling 4x4 and is cheaper to run as well,so drive less energy consuming cars, and save money and energy.

Madonna’s Sad Green Affairs.

Madonna plans on cleaning up the world with her Carbon Shackles.
Recently Madonna was the headliner on a Live Earth show from London’s Wembley Stadium. Where her interpretation of the word green means money, not the environment.
Madonna, has actually invested about $2.7 million dollars in companies that are creating the destruction that Live Earth is trying to raise awareness about. She has invested in several companies named as the biggest corporate polluters in the world.
Madonna’s Ray of Light Foundation owns blocks of shares in companies that are considered punishable and rehabilitatable for their attitudes toward global warming, climate control and basic pollution.
These Madonna companies include Alcoa, Ingersoll Rand, Weyerhaeuser, and several others associated with oil exploration, digging, and refining including British Petroleum, Schlumberger (a chief competitor of Halliburton), Devon Energy, Peabody Energy, Emerson Electric, Kimberly Clark and Weatherford International.
Madonna’s Ray of Light Foundation has stock in each of these companies. Her last published tax statement claims $4.2 million in corporate stock, and only $620,000 in donations to other charities including her pet project: the Kabbalah Center.
Madonna even has 175,000 shares of Ford Motor Company, which in 2005 — the last year for which Ray of Light Foundation’s tax form is available — had only one hybrid SUV in its fleet. Even now, but certainly then, Ford was/is not known as a green company. The only obvious thing Ford and Madonna have in common is Detroit — although it could be argued that only Ford has retained its Midwest accent.
Take Weyerhaeuser Corporation, a Madonna tree killing “forest products” company that is basically in the business of killing trees for paper and wood for housing. Madonna’s Weyerhaeuser is no friend of the green community. A story posted on the Rainforest Action Network details Weyerhaeuser’s ongoing fight with environmental activists who call the Seattle-based corporation “a bad investment” and “one of America’s worst environmental performers.”
Madonna’s investment in Alcoa, the Aluminum Company of America. Alcoa is under fire all over the world, especially in Iceland, for building aluminum smelters that some feel threaten the environment.
Madonna’s Ray of Light Foundation’s Schedule of Realized Gains and Losses is revealing in many ways. It shows that Madonna, while eager to espouse politically correct beliefs, simply does not put her money where her mouth is. The Ray of Light Foundation, for example, has only a few hundred shares of one media company: Viacom. Madonna didn’t even carry an investment in Warner Music Group, the company that releases her music. Madonna is simply a green mean bitch with a huge carbon foot print.

Peak Oil Moments

During one hour meeting between the Saudi King Abdullah, and the UN representative on Saturday June 14, 2008 both parties agreed upon lowering the cost of the oil barrel which is drilling holes in the pockets of US citizens and other nations all over the world lately.

With all the recent development in the renewable energy resources, nations are looking forward to meet there energy need through, green and natural resources such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. Unfortunately all these very productive and free resources are being kept out of the reach of the common man. In United States, and Europe some subsidy is being provided by the governments if one tends to install any type of renewable energy source for domestic energy production. For example in FL & CA, they offer about 50% subsidy in form of cost sharing which is not bad at all, while its even batter in Germany, France and Spain. Just recently San Francisco decided to take the largest solar initiative. But unfortunately in the third world countries in Asia and Africa installation of solar panels or wind turbines is not really some thing common man can consider affording. Although local use of Biogas plants using dung digesters to produce methane gas is getting common in rural settings.

Monopolistic Capitalists have developed there web of financing R&D of renewable energy resources and patent them to ensure an earning out these natural resources, turning the concept of free green energy into a dream. So what should be done about it and how can we get out of the control of these oil giants, answer simply lays in adopting sustainable living. In other words we need to reduce our dependability on the fossil fuel and cut down our energy needs.

A change in social and individual behaviors is needed, walk or maybe ride your cycle to the market instead of pulling your gas guzzling vehicles out for a 10 min journey, some argue about how to carry the shopping, well pull your four wheel drive out, but not the one with an engine, i am talking about your own shopping cart. How about insulating the water tank with black colored insulation in winters to harvest passive solar energy and with silver and white insulation in summers to reflect light to prevent heating. Last year i pasted CD’s on my water tank in summers to reflect the sunlight, but never considered a base between the tank and the CD’s so the difference was not considerable, this year I’ve place some hardy shrubs on and around the tank in large earth pots and they are being watered with the excessive water pumped to the tank and off course rain, reflecting CD’s along with the plants are keeping the water inside the tank cool. Consider a tower of potatoes made out of large rubber tires placed on top of each other five such towers produce enough potato to feed a family of 6 for 6 months, and can be placed easily on a terrace at a sunny spot. Every electric switch left open and plug left in the socket use vampire voltage, all those appliances the have a small red light on them but we think they are turned off are consuming vampire voltage, and these vampire voltage contribute significantly towards our electricity bill every month. With a little care and we can reduce our dependability on the barrels that are pulled out every day to feed our hunger of consumption toped with our convinces.

Cellulose Ethanol Second Generation Biofuel

In the search of renewable energy, turning low volume materials such as switch grass and corn husks into ethanol to fuel cars in some thing of a holy grill. In theory these raw materials should replace the corn grain from main feed stock of ethanol in United States, thus reducing the pressure farmland that played a role in increasing food prices and put drivers into compaction with human hunger.
Front line researchers and investors are finding it hard to market this process commercially and environmentally viable.
Microbiologist Anthony Clarke at the University of Guelph in southwestern Ontario sees the future of renewable fuel but dose not find corn kernel feasible. Anthony states that we have all the other parts of a corn plant, leaves stalk and the husk to produce cellulose ethanol and he also mentions the acid and energy required in the process... turning plant waste into cellulose ethanol is not an simple procedure as acid and stem required in the processing both need energy to be made. So more energy in going in at the moment then the amount being recovered. With the current technology cellulose delivers less energy then corn. But if the scientists succeed in developing there dream technology cellulose ethanol can be 3 to 8 times more efficient then corn ethanol.
Clarke and his team are working on micro organisms that produce cellulose enzymes that can munch on these raw materials the way bacteria in cow help break down and digest grass.
This bio-technology should allow production of cellulose ethanol on commercial scale, resulting into a cheep bio-fuel not directly linked to food grain. This research is being funded by Logen an Ottawa-based market leader of second generation biofuels.There is another very common negative approach towards biofuels. Canadian energy coordinator David Martin, aggress to the fact that plants provide a cleaner source of fuel compared to fossil fuel as no new CO2 is added to the atmosphere.
Last 1 year of reviews portrayed biofuel manufacturers as a space goat or giant maggots graving away all the food grain holding them responsible for inflation in food. Price of a bushel in the past three years raised thrice with a record of $6 and above.
Canadian produce and distributor of Greenfield ethanol Robert Gallant aggress to the fact that the height cost of grain is directly related to the high cost of fuel in USA and even in Pakistan where energy scarcity is common. It should be clear that the lift in the cost of grain has very little to do with the actual cost of the grain. Robert also foresees corn ethanol as a step stone towards cellulose ethanol, and hope that cellulose ethanol should be able to take place of wheat & corn ethanol which s a major source of ethanol production in north America.
Hopes are that when cellulose ethanol comes into the market it should be able to replace not only grain ethanol but also quite a few petroleum products, this also means a promise of a positive environmental impact with this second generation of biofuels . Biofuel is also promising as already they are working on its third generation in which raw material for production is algae.

Floating Wind Turbines

Wind turbines floating in the sky may sound like an absurd idea, but absurdness of this bizarre new concept in the field of wind energy is the beauty of the concept itself. Like most developments in the felid of renewable energy, floating wind turbines came with simply a concept backed by the fact that energy is all around us we just need suitable and sustainable means to harness it. We all know that there is a steady wind for consistent production of energy some where above 600 to 1000 feet above ground level, but to put a wind turbine at 1000 Feet on a pole is not only expensive but also quite hard to maintain.
Magenn Power of Ottawa has developed a prototype of these floating wind turbines, and they are calling it MARS (The Magenn Air Rotator System). MARS is a blimp that floats with the aid of helium gas and is connected to grid stations with a series of cables. Centrifugal turbines mounted on both ends of the MARS and these floating wind turbines start producing, clean renewable energy. Floating wind turbines produce double the average production of conventional wind turbines as the winds at 1000 feet are steady and more productive.
Floating wind turbines not only thumps conventional wind turbines with there low impact ability but also are much easier to maintain. Mobility of floating wind turbines is another remarkable feature which makes this technology tremendously practical in times of emergency. These amazing floating wind turbines can be easily installed for instant power availability at disaster struck sites.
Floating wind turbines research and development is promising 40 to 50 % efficiency compared to the conventional wind turbines as the double production capacity of a single unit is possible. Farms of floating wind turbines can be placed near the demanded area and this can save on cable cost and line loss.
Conventional wind turbines only produce energy in wind speeds between 3 meters/sec and 28 meters/sec. Magenn’s floating wind turbines (MARS) should start production between 1 meter/sec and in excess of 28 meters/sec.
These floating wind turbines can be easily raised to different heights between 400ft-1000ft, thus capitalizing of stable and speedy winds will be very much possible.
Critics talk of hazardous these floating wind turbines might bring for air traffic, but air traffic is not some play station game any more every new development is update with aviations world wide. Some say that these floating wind turbines might break down and fall, disasters strike but can be controlled as well, as with such huge investments backups are always designed.
Another type of floating wind turbines is under research by Sky Wind power Corporation. These floating wind turbines will use helicopter technology to reach desired heights and stay afloat, now these heights can be 30,000 feet up in the jet stream where the wind is strong and steady, Sky Wind power Corporation, envisage clusters of these floating wind turbines, as many as 600 units, generating as much as 12,000 megawatts, far more than your typical nuclear plant.
Floating wind turbines might prove to be the next generation of wind energy, making it a flexible source of renewable clean energy ready to install in remote areas, according to Magenn Air Rotator System, first batch of these floating wind turbines should be launched soon for sale fit for domestic use.