I've been working on my straw bale house lately, right now the trenches for the footings are all dug. I had all the rocks thrown to the outside of the excavation and all the dirt thrown into the center of the excavation.
I had the rocks put to the outside because they don't make good fill unless they're crushed and there's lots of different sizes. The dirt that was dug out will later be used as fill to bring the level up so that the floors can be poured with concrete. Read the full article »
If I were asked what group of people it is most important to teach about water conservation or other ecological issues it would be the children. By introducing these young minds to these issues and making it part of their every day life it will become natural for them to think of these things when they are older too.
Young minds are very impressionable and a lot of what they learn will stay with them throughout their whole life. The impact of what they learn now will not only help them, it will help generations to come as well. Read the full article »
Their cause and motives are good but I think that the environmental extremists really give the whole green movement a bad reputation. I was even given advice not to include the word green in the URL of my blog because of the reputation the green movement historically has - but obviously I've chosen to keep it.
I am a realistic person, so when reading my blog you'll notice that I write about things that are easy for anybody to do.
I believe in water conservation, I believe in recycling, I believe in lessening our dependence on fossil fuels. But I also believe that human beings have to be comfortable in their environment. Read the full article »
Grey water is the water that doesn't contain feces type waste in it. The water comes from your washing machine, kitchen sink, shower and bathroom sink. The greatest percentage of contaminants in grey water comes from the soap that was used to clean whatever the water was washing when it was being used.
I've manually recycled unfiltered grey water from my washing machine by watering my trees and lawn with it to see if it has any effect. With over a year of doing this and only once in awhile giving the trees and grass clean, fresh water the plants seem to be quite healthy. Read the full article »
First of all let me be clear about something - I've never seen the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and I'm not a scientist. But even with my lack of experience and credentials on the subject I firmly believe that this Garbage Patch exists and that the reports of it are not overstated. I also believe that we need to do something about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch fast.
If you haven't heard about this, there's a few facts about the Garbage Patch you should know:
A brand new bark mulch has wonderful color and looks great. But mulch isn't only used for decoration or weed control.
I use mulch to help me conserve water when I plant trees on my property. Some of the trees I plant would normally not survive the hot climate where I am the length of time it takes for them to establish themselves well enough to survive on their own.
Mulch allows the water I give the plants and trees to soak down into the soil quickly but also helps stop the water from evaporating and being lost into the atmosphere. Read the full article »
Since I live in an area of Mexico where there is very little rain and my property does not have a water pipe running to it from the city - I have a small water issue.
Currently I haul water by truck to my property for my trees and plants so I'm very conscious about the water that I use.
I've looked into the amount of average yearly rainfall my area has and it works out to about 34cm of rain per year. Most of that rain falls in the months of August and September so I know when I'll have to prepare myself for the onslaught of the rains. Read the full article »
I really like this video. This guy, who is totally new at beekeeping, braves the wrath of the honeybee and starts his first hive.
Bees are really important pollinators, we rely on them to pollinate some of our crops and move the bees around, hundreds of hives at a time, to pollinate many of our crops.
If you've ever thought about beekeeping you should watch this video. You'll see that anybody can do it. If you choose to start beekeeping you'll also get the reward of unprocessed, great tasting, natural honey as a bonus. Read the full article »
Water is one of nature's most important gifts to mankind. Essential to life, a person's survival depends on drinking water. It is also a key component in determining the quality of our...
A "professional" making it so simple... 5 hours... everywhere in the world... mmm.