36 calories/km commute

So do you want a free telephone directory ?

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:12:00 +0000

So yesterday the telephone company distributed telephone directories in Jerusalem . Loads and loads of big fat directories to everyone , want it or not . Who uses a telephone directory these days ? The print I realised was so small that a granny ( I am assuming its only the granny generation would use a directory ) wouldn't be able to read a thing . Unless you are referring to the Yellow Pages . There is directory service at 144 ( you pay for it ) , there is directory service on the internet at Dapey Zahav and many others . And then it struck me , it is for the yellow pages , it is an advertisement as all the junk 'supplements' that one gets with the weekend newspaper , like the junk newspaper that one is handed out on the traffic crossing . But then how much does this add to the waste stream ? Yesterday the street was littered with the directories and tomorrow all the bins will be full of directories since nobody will bother to take the old ones for recycling . I weighed the directory and it weighs about 800 grams , with a very conservative estimate of 100,000 directories distributed in Jerusalem , it works out to 80 tonnes of newsprint . If 12 pines 40 feet (12.2m) tall, 8 inches (20cm) in diameter trees give a ton of newsprint , so that works out to 960 trees !! If the trees are spaced at 3 meters , each tree takes 9 sq.m which works out to 8640 sq.m of forest . So for the pleasure of distributing free directories in the city of Jerusalem we cut down nearly a hectare of of forest which is between 10-14 years . And we did not begin to talk about the energy required from the raw material stage to the delivery of the product .

So how many trees would make a ton of paper?

Claudia Thompson, in her book Recycled Papers: The Essential Guide (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992), reports on an estimate calculated by Tom Soder, then a graduate student in the Pulp and Paper Technology Program at the University of Maine. He calculated that, based on a mixture of softwoods and hardwoods 40 feet tall and 6-8 inches in diameter, it would take a rough average of 24 trees to produce a ton of printing and writing paper, using the kraft chemical (freesheet) pulping process.

If we assume that the groundwood process is about twice as efficient in using trees, then we can estimate that it takes about 12 trees to make a ton of groundwood and newsprint. (The number will vary somewhat because there often is more fiber in newsprint than in office paper, and there are several different ways of making this type of paper.)

Some more paper stats here .

The cornflakes research story

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:17:00 +0000

Ages back I read about some research into the nutritional qualities of cornflakes, interesting but I wonder if there is a way to validate it.
Paul Stitt described one in his book Fighting the Food Giants. Four sets of rats were given special diets. One group received plain whole wheat, water, vitamins and minerals. Another group received Puffed Wheat, water and the same nutrient solution. A third set was given water and white sugar, and a fourth given nothing but water and the chemical nutrients. The rats that received the whole wheat lived over a year on the diet. The rats that got nothing but water and vitamins lived for about eight weeks, and the animals on a white sugar and water diet lived for a month. But [the company’s] own laboratory study showed that rats given vitamins, water and all the Puffed Wheat they wanted died in two weeks. It wasn’t a matter of the rats dying of malnutrition; results like these suggested that there was something actually toxic about the Puffed Wheat itself. Proteins are very similar to certain toxins in molecular structure, and the puffing process of putting the grain under 1500 pounds per square inch of pressure and then releasing it may produce chemical changes which turn a nutritious grain into a poisonous substance.

The other study, described in Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, was performed in 1960 by researchers at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Eighteen rats were divided into three groups. One group received cornflakes and water; a second group was given the cardboard box that the cornflakes came in and water; and the control group received rat chow and water. The rats in the control group remained in good health throughout the experiment. The rats receiving the box became lethargic and eventually died of malnutrition. But the rats receiving cornflakes and water died before the rats that were given the box – the last cornflake rat died on the day the first box rat died. Before death the cornflake rats developed schizophrenic behavior, threw fits, bit each other and finally went into convulsions. Autopsy revealed dysfunction of the pancreas, liver and kidneys and degeneration of the nerves in the spine – all signs of "insulin shock." The startling conclusion of this study is that there is more nourishment in the box that cold breakfast cereals come in than in the cereals themselves.

The rest of the article here.

Water management slideshow

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:03:00 +0000

Water management in India: By Gita Kavarana

View more presentations from bmbks321.

Green Credits

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:48:00 +0000

Found this on my computer . No comments .

Jimmy's GM food fight

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 11:15:00 +0000

Jimmy Doherty, pig farmer, one-time scientist and poster-boy for sustainable food production is on a mission to find out if GM crops really can feed the world.

We need to double the amount of food we produce in the next fifty years to feed the world's growing population. Are GM crops the answer? Or are they a dangerous Frankenstein technology that could start an environmental catastrophe?

To find the answers Jimmy is on a journey that will take him from the vast soya plantations of Argentina to the traditional Amish farms of Pennsylvania; and from the cutting-edge technology of the GM laboratories to the banana plantations of Uganda.
BBC

Sounds wonderful , right ? Sounds like Jimmy is taking the fight to the GM camp , had me fooled as well and so I spent an hour watching another campaign for Genetically Modified foods . Jimmy garbed like a real scientist pretends to ask questions about the validity of GM food , it's financial , environmental and ethical validity and surprise surprise , GM comes out with flying colors to each question . So vast monocultures in Argentine are definitely a good thing , the Amish are using it , so it must be a great thing and most importantly genetically modified food will be more nutritious and will save the world from hunger . Down the way he concludes that producing GM seed is just like the natural process, just speeded up and while there have been some allergies from GM food in lab experiments , it must be ok as the Americans have been eating it for ten years . What really peeved me up was his claim that by applying European standards of caution to GM food , we are effectively letting the poor Africans starve !! So my question is Jimmy , if GM food is not proven safe why do you think it is right for the Africans and the rest of the developing world eat it . Sure the Europeans need it to be tested on someone and it is ok to let the black man to be used as a guinea pig because they are going to die of starvation anyway .
And what about Monsanto , how can we talk about GM and not even mention Monsanto , the largest philanthropic organisation in the world , controlling 90% of the GM seed and on their to acquire a sizable amount non Gm seed . The GM ethics are very clearly enunciated in this article by Vandana Shiva .

An epidemic of farmers' suicides has spread across four Indian states -- Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab -- over the last decade. According to official data, more than 160,000 farmers have committed suicide in India since 1997.

These suicides are most frequent where farmers grow cotton, and appear directly linked to the presence of seed monopolies. For the supply of cotton seeds in India has increasingly slipped out of the hands of farmers and into the hands of global seed producers like Monsanto. These giant corporations have begun to control local seed companies through buyouts, joint ventures and licensing arrangements, leading to seed monopolies.

When this happens, seed is transformed from being a common good into being the "intellectual property" of companies such as Monsanto, for which the corporation can claim limitless profits through royalty payments. For farmers, this means deeper debt.

Vandana Shiva - Harvest of suicide

You can read an elaborate dissection of the documentary here . Another link that clears the myth of high productivity and less pesticide use being claimed for GM food .

Garden log 13.06.09

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:41:00 +0000

My reputation as a gardener who never grows anything is taking a dent lately . Whether it is due to my dabbling is permaculture or the abundant water from our greywater system or the slight amount of soap that manages to get through the filtration system or the early onset of summer or all the above , it cannot be denied that the garden is blooming . The zucchini is going great guns , huge blooms and a lot of flowers . Today we harvested the sixth zucchini . Though there is some white powdery stuff on the leaves that is a bit disturbing . The tomatoes give me no reason to complain but still a way to go , beans we manage to get a handful every second day and some basil and rocket . But the pride and joy is definitely the melons , a nice decent sized melon , a small one and a few on the way .
The greywater system is giving me a bit of worry though . The water is down to a trickle and needs to be coaxed through . I suspect the sand layer ,since it was not protected with a geotechnic cloth has managed to find its way to the gravel and is creating a sludge which is pretty difficult for the water to get through. I have a taken out a bit of this sludge and gravel but the solution might lie in a reed bed that actively breaks down the soap and aerates the water . Next stage .
For the moment though we are enjoying watching the garden grow . If I had my way , I would've taken a chair and watched it all day long .
All the phots were taken by Ben . Going over the photos I remembered the pomegranate .

Sustainable cities

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:49:00 +0000

They are talking about LA here !

Garden log 310509

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:44:00 +0000

The garden is coming along nicely , the tomatoes , bean and zucchini doing very well though only the zucchini has any fruit , lots of flowers on tomatoes .

Zucchini living up to its reputation of being a fast mover , giant blooms , took me my surprise .

Planting log 130509

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:13:00 +0000

The garden is picking up, well sort of . It still isn't overrun by plants but gradually we can see some greenery . And considering the state we were in , if we produce food this season , it will be a big bonus .

The herb patch on the Hugelkultur bed , lavender , sage , basil and a tiny tomato seedling.

The Hugelkultur terrace, logs of wood held in place with metal stakes , actually scrap iron bars , filled with goodness of rotting wood .

Greywater tank filter with the salvaged mulch

Tomatoes ..

Beans for some nitrogen fixing . I took a handful of organic store bought beans and threw them all over the place .

The almond..

The plum..

And zucchini , the only plant that seems to understand the urgency .

Is it a bird, is it a ..........

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Tue, 12 May 2009 06:36:00 +0000

This guy ain't saving no energy by using a bike but one cannot let this pass by .
Awesome.

Homegrown Revolution

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Thu, 07 May 2009 06:53:00 +0000

For the last couple of years I have been following the online journal of a family in urban Pasadena that decided to convert their one-tenth acre garden to a Urban Homestead . Over the years they have diversified a lot from growing food to a lifestyle of being self sustaining , at least as close one can get to in an urban area , effectively minimising their ecological footprint . Their internet and media footprint has increased considerably . They have created sites like Freedom seeds , Freedom Gardens and have been the subject of many news clips and documentaries . The film Homegrown revolution featuring the homestead , has been screened in a number of green film festivals . In a couple of months the family will be coming to Israel and would like to screen this movie . I am sending out this message to a number of groups hoping that someone can organise a community screening of this movie along with the Dervaes family . Their journal can be accessed here at Path to freedom

In the midst of a densely urban setting in downtown Pasadena, radical change is taking root.

For over twenty years, the Dervaes family have transformed their home into an urban homestead. They harvest nearly 3 tons of organic food from their 1/10 acre garden while incorporating many back-to-basics practices, as well as solar energy and biodiesel. (Film's Runtime 15:44)

Superweeds

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:24:00 +0000

This is what happens when we try to force issues with nature , nature hits back with a much virulent form . Like the bacteria mutating to superbacteria due to overuse of bacteria , now we have weeds that can withstand the wonder chemical ROUNDUP .

“Superweeds” are plaguing high-tech Monsanto crops in southern US states, driving farmers to use more herbicides, return to conventional crops or even abandon their farms.

The rest of the story here .I like to believe what Bill Mollison said

You don''t have a slug problem, but a Duck shortage

the idea being that instead of going against the grain of nature and bludgeoning everything that pops up to submission , we need to find ways to integrate it into the overall solution . But than modern agriculture is not based on the logic of a sustainable system , on the contrary it is based on creating dependancies for maximizing profit . So Monsanto soon enough will come up with something even deadlier and will , I am sure , mange to convince everyone that this thing is pure magic till some other weed develops a liking to their wonderful new poison .

Fruit trees everywhere

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 08:16:00 +0000

For all of you who have wondered why trees in the city are just ornamentals and not something that can provide food , the city of Manchester is going ahead with a plan to plant fruit trees, vegetables , establish bee hives in all public parks .Sounds like a wonderful idea to educate and to utilize unused urban areas to grow food .

Fruit tree revolutionExclusive Yakub QureshiApril 21, 2009THOUSANDS of fruit trees and bushes are to be planted in Manchester - with an invitation to `Help Yourself'.Vegetable patches and beehives will also be set up as part of the £200,000 scheme.The council fears local children don't know where fruit comes from.The plans involve:Putting fruit and nut trees or vegetable patches in each of the city's 135 parks and woodsPlanting 20,000 strawberry, raspberry and soft fruit bushes around the citySetting up beehives in a dozen parks and allotmentsPlanting free herbs such as mint and parsley in every city park

The whole story here .

Planting log 090409

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:09:00 +0000

Photos of the garden, everything looking very much not there but the tank for the greywater system is in place , there is tons of organic stuff in the beds , had to do a lot of digging to take out stones and concrete from the soil but from now on it is going to be a no dig garden with organic mulch .The PomegranateThe strawberries along with chickpeaHerbsLemonAlmondsBeds with mulch and the greywater filterThe Plum tree hasn't shown any inclination to acknowledge it is spring.

Small farms give better bang for buck

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:29:00 +0000

According to the NYT small farms are more productive than large farms

Until now, food production has been controlled by Big Agriculture, with its macho fixation on “average tonnage” and “record harvests.” But there’s a cost to its breadbasket-to-the-world bragging rights. Like those big Industrial Age factories that once billowed black smoke, American agriculture is mired in a mind-set that relies on capital, chemistry and machines. Food production is dependent on oil, in the form of fertilizers and pesticides, in the distances produce travels from farm to plate and in the energy it takes to process it.
For decades, environmentalists and small farmers have claimed that this is several kinds of madness. But industrial agriculture has simply responded that if we’re feeding more people more cheaply using less land, how terrible can our food system be?
Now that argument no longer holds true. With the price of oil at more than $120 a barrel (up from less than $30 for most of the last 50 years), small and midsize nonpolluting farms, the ones growing the healthiest and best-tasting food, are gaining a competitive advantage. They aren’t as reliant on oil, because they use fewer large machines and less pesticide and fertilizer.
In fact, small farms are the most productive on earth. A four-acre farm in the United States nets, on average, $1,400 per acre; a 1,364-acre farm nets $39 an acre. Big farms have long compensated for the disequilibrium with sheer quantity. But their economies of scale come from mass distribution, and with diesel fuel costing more than $4 per gallon in many locations, it’s no longer efficient to transport food 1,500 miles from where it’s grown.

More in a similar vein Organic farming can feed the world .

Biomass

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 10:12:00 +0000

Yesterday I found a huge pile of yard waste from the neighbouring building . All in all I brought in nearly a cube of biomass to the garden to add to the nearly sterile soil in the garden . A lot of grass , a significant amount of mustard and similar weeds . On the way to work I saw quite a few of these biomass piles all destined for the municipal dump .

They water lawns with mineral water

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:14:00 +0000

Ein Gedi (Hebrew: עֵין גֶּדִי‎, lit. Kid Spring (as in young goat); KJV Bible Engedi) is an oasis in Israel, located west of the Dead Sea, close to Masada and the caves of Qumran. Location [show location on an interactive map] 31°27′N 35°23′E / 31.45°N 35.383°E / 31.45; 35.383.It is known for its caves, springs, and its rich diversity of flora and fauna. Ein Gedi is mentioned several times in biblical writings, for example, in the Song of Songs; "My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna flowers in the vineyards of Ein Gedi" (1:14). According to Jewish tradition, David hid from Saul in the caves here; "And David went up from thence, and dwelt in the strongholds of Ein Gedi" (1 Samuel 24:1).A kibbutz, founded in 1956, is located about a kilometer from the oasis. It offers various tourist attractions and takes advantage of the local weather patterns and the abundance of natural water to cultivate out-of-season produce. Prior to the founding of the kibbutz, the Ein Gedi area had not been permanently inhabited for 500 years.

WikipediaA random series of thoughts beginning from my greywater system to bottled water , Kibbutz Ein Gedi with it's many manicured lawns , they probably use the same water that they charge 4 shekels for two liters for watering their lawns in an absolutely arid area . Here is what haaretx said about Ein Gedi a few years back . Makes one think of the sustainability of agriculture in the Biqa valley as well .

Greywater system update

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:53:00 +0000

The greywater system is up and running. The water goes to the first tank and once the water crosses a point , the pump kicks in and pumps up the water to the filter cum tank . We had a very water intensive day today with a few loads of washing and kids in the bath but from what it appears we might have more water than what we need !! Next stage is to connect the water to the drip system .Visually the water seems ok , no turbidity , a bit of soap coming through , a few days more till the biological filter or schmutzdecke kicks in.

The removal of contaminants in slow sand filters occurs mainly in the colmation layer or schmutzdecke - a biologically active layer consisting of algae, bacteria, diatoms and zooplankton. A ripening period of 6 - 8 weeks is required for this layer to form, during which time filter performance is sub-optimal.

From hereThe amount of water makes me think that maybe we are underutilising the greywater system and should have integrated it with the flush water . But maybe I will just earn some 'brownie points' by offering to water my neighbours patch .

Agriculture as war

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:04:00 +0000

A thought provoking article from Dr Vandana ShivaIndustrial agriculture has become a war against ecosystems. It is based on the instruments of war and the logic of war, and it has warlike consequences. The chemicals on which industrial agriculture is based were originally designed for chemical warfare. That is why they turned Bhopal into a warzone. That is why they convert our farms into warzones.

Agriculture based on diversity, decentralization and improving small farm productivity through ecological methods is a women-centred, nature friendly agriculture. In this women-centered agriculture, knowledge is shared, other species and plants are kin, not `property', and sustainability is based on renewal and regeneration of biodiversity and species richness on farms to provide internal inputs. In our paradigms, there is no place for monocultures of genetically engineered crops and IPR monopolies on seeds.Monocultures and monopolies symbolize a masculinization of agriculture. The war mentality underlying military-industrial agriculture is evident from the names given to herbicides which destroy the economic basis of the survival o the poorest women in the rural areas of the Third World. Monsanto's herbicides are called `Round up', `Machete', `Lasso' American Home Products which has merged with Monsanto calls its herbicides `Pentagon', `Prowl', `Lightening', `Assert', `Avenge'. This is the language of war, not sustainability. Sustainability is based on peace with the earth.

Food

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:00:00 +0000

For the last couple of months I have been reading voraciously about food , organic , backyard , the ills of industrial monocultures , Fukuoka , Geoff Lawton , the broken nutrient cycles , Monsanto , the Future of food , Permaculture , Bill Mollison, Emilia Hazelip and more . It is quite clear that my mind is made up , industrial production of food is bad for me and my family and the environment . So time to take the plunge seriously into growing my own food or part of it and at the same time utilize wastes that we create in a manner that is not only non destructive but also adds to the immediate environment . Not that this is the first time I am trying to do so , I have at least two seasons of growing but not producing anything with my blessed black thumb but I believe I have reached a point where I have enough know how to do it better . We will be using greywater from our bath , composting all our kitchen and yard wastes and using a lot of mulch .

Greywater system

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:32:00 +0000

Today we finalised the greywater system that we are going to install . It is a very basic setup , greywater from the bath and the washing machine goes in a subterranean tank with a submersible pump which pumps it up to the terrace . The contractor is going to do the job of pumping up the terrace and I will make the rest of the filtration system which is essentially going to be a trench with gravel . The water will be released into a subsurface drip system . Schematically it is going to be like this .
If the water pump is 0.5 kw and takes even as much as half an hour everyday to pump up the water , the monthly consumption of electricity will be 15 Kwh which at 0.50 shekels/Kwh works out to 7.50 shekels a month or less than 2$ a month . The water saved will definitely offset the cost of running the pump .

Bike share

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:42:00 +0000

Came across a bike sharing program being launched in DC at [url=http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/08/dc-bike-sharing-smart-bikes.php]Treehugger[/url] . Besides the usual hitches of bikes being stolen , vandalized , do you carry a lock or do you have to take it a collection point somebody commented what happens in the case of mandatory helmet rule . Do you carry one with you for the whole day or do you get someone else's sweaty helmet ? With Tel Aviv soon to launch a bike sharing program that is another valid question to be addressed .
As per the tender here is something interesting

But failing to return it on time ...

A little harsh and I am sure enough to scare most people .
For someone keen on what is being asked for, here is a copy of the tender for the setup, rental and operation of the system in TA and Jaffa .

Crank my bike video

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 04:47:00 +0000

Came across this wonderful video of what cities should look like , bikes everywhere . The city featured here is Copenhagen .

The pitfalls of Bio-diesel

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 06:39:00 +0000

This is a video created by Greenpeace to highlight the issues surrounding Bio-fuels, diesel and their potentially detrimental effect through deforestation.

Test of teapotters site

noreply@blogger.com (arv) — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 10:26:00 +0000

Here is a test of Teapotter's application for displaying 3D in blogs .

It works with the necessary plugin in IE as well as Firefox .