36 calories/km commute

Transport routes proposed for Jerusalem

2010-10-10T13:54:00.004+02:00

New transport routes proposed for Jerusalem

Taking composting a step further

2010-06-15T14:25:00.002+03:00

Remember Soylent Green, the movie with Charleston Heston where he discovers this super food soylent green is based on human remains ? Here is a poem by Lee Hays which sort of has a similar idea.Wonder how my neighbors will react to corpses in my compost pile .

In Dead Earnest

If I should die before I wake
All my bone and sinew take
Put them in the compost pile
To decompose a little while
Sun, rain and worms will have their way
Reducing me to common clay
All that I am will feed the trees
And little fishes in the seas
When corn and radishes you munch
You may be having me for lunch
Then excrete me with a grin
Chortling, There goes Lee again
'Twill be my happiest destiny
To die and live eternally

Lee Hays, 1981

Carbon offset calculator

2010-05-30T22:21:00.003+03:00

Carbon calculator at terrapass. Another calculator

Your browser doesn't support IFRAMES - please use the basic calculator instead.

So how much to green my India trip ?

2010-05-30T22:07:00.003+03:00

So lately the biggest perk at work is trips to India, very welcome if you have folks back home. But these trips come at an expense, a total of 3,300 kg of carbon dioxide, say 4000lb of carbon dioxide including trips to/from the airport, very carbon intensive accommodation and food that has definitely a lot of miles. So for a mere $ 23.80 I can be absolved of my carbon indiscretion. On the other hand, a tree is estimated to offset about 2000 lb of CO2 in its lifetime. So I am off to planting two trees which I hope to do over the weekend.

So will you pee in your sink ?

2010-03-24T11:34:00.003+02:00

Human urine is loaded with nitrates , great for the plants and every time you use the loo you flush down 5-10 liters of clean drinking water to flush it away. Now for an entirely hypothetical solution. Say your spouse is averse to not flushing the loo after every use and equally averse to bottles of pee in the loo and you have a greywater system connected to the bath sink that goes to the plants outside, would you let all of these nitrates go waste along with fresh potable water or would you pee in your sink ?

test

2010-02-09T19:31:00.000+02:00

testing blogging with my mobile phone, works but a pain.

So do you want a free telephone directory ?

2009-10-20T10:12:00.001+02:00

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

2009-09-23T09:17:00.001+03:00

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

2009-08-27T15:03:00.000+03:00

Water management in India: By Gita Kavarana

View more presentations from bmbks321.

Green Credits

2009-07-07T10:48:00.000+03:00

Found this on my computer . No comments .

Jimmy's GM food fight

2009-06-14T14:15:00.003+03:00

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

2009-06-13T22:41:00.003+03:00

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

2009-06-01T23:49:00.001+03:00

They are talking about LA here !

Garden log 310509

2009-05-31T21:44:00.002+03:00

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

2009-05-13T15:13:00.006+03:00

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 ..........

2009-05-12T09:36:00.002+03:00

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

Homegrown Revolution

2009-05-07T09:53:00.001+03:00

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

2009-04-27T14:24:00.000+03:00

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

2009-04-26T11:16:00.000+03:00

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

2009-04-10T00:09:00.001+03:00

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

2009-04-05T17:29:00.000+03:00

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

2009-04-05T13:12:00.000+03:00

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

2009-04-04T01:14:00.000+03:00

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

2009-04-04T00:53:00.001+03:00

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

2009-03-26T12:04:00.000+02:00

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

2009-03-26T11:00:00.001+02:00

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

2009-03-17T10:32:00.000+02:00

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

2008-08-19T09:42:00.004+03:00

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

2007-07-24T07:47:00.001+03:00

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

The pitfalls of Bio-diesel

2007-06-12T09:39:00.000+03:00

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

2007-04-01T13:26:00.001+03:00

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 .

Green set of wheels

2007-02-05T12:24:00.000+02:00

In a recent article Haaretz put forward the plans underfoot at the Min. of Environment, Finance and Infrastructure to deal with global warming vis a vis vehicles . Now as far as I am concerned the only set of wheels that I consider green come with a bicycle but sadly I am in a minority . So once we get over this debate of what is green and once I am bludgeoned to submission that one does not need to reduce the number of car trips , just shift to something more green , I can start to see what's green in the proposed bill .
The main features as reported are

Diesel-powered vehicles over five years old be banned from entering central Tel Aviv, unless they are equipped with devices that significantly reduce polluting emissions.
Scrapping of cars over 20 years old.
Proposal to convert all cars in the civil service to more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly models (such as hybrids and electric vehicles) within five years.
Incentives for promoting clean fuel products not derived from crude oil, and for diesel alternatives .

And probably the most important is the issue of green taxation .

The legislation in question includes significant financial incentives for promoting clean fuel products not derived from crude oil, and for diesel alternatives, in keeping with the decision of the interministerial committee dealing with "green" taxation, which is due to issue its conclusions in the very near future.

A step in the right direction , a bit delayed in coming but nevertheless . Scrapping of older cars is something I am not too sure of . On one hand these cars pollute much more than newer cars but scrapping does involve a lot of waste production out of which not everything is recyclable and finds its way to landfills in the third world . New cars have an enormous amount of embodied energy which doesn't always find it's way into the energy equation . If one does the lifetime cost analysis , a dust to dust analysis i.e beginning from the raw materials to the stage it is recycled the fuel consumption for every kilometer can be as low as 10% of the total cost . Which means a new car with its fuel efficiency would use more energy in it's production than what it will save in it's lifetime . And the fact that it hits the economically weakest is also something to think of . The article mentions a compensation of NIS 3000 for scrapping older cars , hardly an incentive . On the other hand maybe these cars can be retrofitted to run on gas to reduce the damage .
I used to be a big believer in biofuels but lately I am having serious doubts about it . Read about it here and here .
We all harp about alternative energies and how they can bring us salvation but the greenest set of wheels still belong to a bicycle .

Should we be worried about the price of tortillas

2007-02-01T08:37:00.000+02:00

Ok , it has started happening . BBC reported that in Mexico the Mexicans stage tortilla protest

The price of the flat corn bread, the main source of calories for many poor Mexicans, recently rose by over 400%.

President Felipe Calderon has said the government will clamp down on hoarding and speculation to ease the problem.

But some blame the rise on demand for corn to make environmentally-friendly biofuels in the United States.

So is this where we are headed , the developed nations divert food crops to the production of bio-fuels and in the developing nations there is shortage of food ?
If this story is indicative of what is un store we are headed for worse times than 'tortilla protests' To reiterate what I has been said before about the damage bio-fuels can wreak read George Monbiot's Worse than fossil fuel .
Bio-fuels are no silver bullet , the one all inclusive means to salvation . It has to be a number of ideas leading to the same goal . Also we just cannot fool ourselves into believing we can continue to expend energy at the same levels as we did at our arrogant best if we switch to 'sustainable alternatives ' .

Carbon Offsets : More snake oil

2006-10-29T13:40:00.000+02:00

Saw Al Gore's An Inconvenient truth the other day . The film is quite
convincing to somebody who doesn't need convincing , it just reaffirms one's faith in reducing one's footprint on planet earth . I believe it is
also quite convincing to the skeptics that one needs to take action. I
heard my boss spewing the need to go green . And what better way to be
green than to buy green !! I mentioned this need to buy green in a
previous blog. Coming back to the movie , the
movie suggests to take action and sends you to Climate Crisis to learn more
about global warming and action we as individuals can take. I agree
with everything in varying degrees to what the site promotes until it
comes to the point of carbon offsets/credits . The site points to the Cool driver site that allows you
to clean your conscience . It proclaims at the top of the site "You do
not have to stop driving to fight global warming "

The idea is that you clean your conscience by buying green credits that go towards seting up green energy like wind power , planting trees etc , very much akin to
absolving yourself of your sins by giving to the temple/priest/poor . I
understand the logic of carbon credits and I am for it but when somebody
starts promoting it as a tool to take care of one's sins , it really
gets my goat .
Rather than promoting a lifestyle that involves reduction of consumption
and using a car only when necessary it says , go and drive and we will
clean up the mess afterwards which is a lot of bull !!
The argument advanced by the likes of SinksWatch, Carbon Trade Watch or The Corner House is that such schemes fail to address (or, worse, deliberately disguise) the fact that the real problem is our excessive burning of fossil fuels. The Corner House’s uncompromising position is that “the only realistic approach to the dangers of climate change is to stop production of coal, oil and gas as soon as possible, leaving the great bulk of fossil fuels safely underground”.
Offsetting, in this view, merely salves consciences, while creating the
illusion that consumption (cheap air travel being a prime example) and
production patterns in the richer countries can be maintained without
harming the climate . Businesses offer the option to neutralize
everything from buying a plane ticket or cars by buying equivalent green
credits with ready calculators online .
The subtext that
these adverts forget to write is " We are a corporation that makes money doing green power
projects and we use suckers to pay for it . "

Links
http://www.greenfutures.org.uk/features/default.asp?id=2599
http://www.newint.org/features/2006/07/01/keynote/
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2006/10/19/selling-indulgences/

Biodiesel : Snake oil ?

2006-10-29T10:25:00.000+02:00

Wikipedia defines Biodiesel as

Biodiesel refers to a diesel-equivalent, processed fuel derived from biological sources. ...biodiesel refers to alkyl esters made from the transesterification of both vegetable oils and/or animal fats. Biodiesel is biodegradable and non-toxic, and has significantly fewer emissions than petroleum-based diesel when burned. Biodiesel functions in current diesel engines, and could in theory supplement fossil fuels as the world's primary transport energy source.

Which loosely translated means that biodiesel is a fuel from vegetable/animal sources that does not need to be taken out from the earth's crust , is less polluting and since it is not extracted from beneath the surface , it doesn't add to the carbon in the system . And so it is being touted as the next saviour in our effort against global warming . Biodiesel can be synthesised from waste vegetable oils , vegetable oils , animal fat , waste agricultural produce and algae . So theoretically one can pop over to the local felafel/fish 'n chips shop , get all the waste oil which needs to be disposed off and through a simple process make it ready to be poured into the car !! Alternatively you can buy a load of oil from the supermarket . So if we shifted to biodiesel we would be doing a lot of good to the environment .

Wikipedia defines Snake oil as

a traditional Chinese medicine used for joint pain. However, the most common usage of the words is as a derogatory term for medicines to imply that they are fake, fraudulent, and usually ineffective. The expression is also applied metaphorically to any product with exaggerated marketing but questionable or unverifiable quality. In short, it refers to a product sold as part of a hoax.

As the title suggests I am pointing out to the discrepancies in the theory .

The local felafel shops can provide a very limited quantity of waste oil that can be used as a fuel .

If biodiesel is to be used extensively one needs to grow oil producing crops specifically for biodiesel . Since the arable land under cultivation is also finite , oil producing crop can come intead of food producing crop . shortage of food , starvation is a likely scenario. ..more

Or else forests could be cut down to make room for oil producing plants. This as we know is not a very smart thing to do as well

We can see the effect of deforestation here

The need is to regulate the production of biodiesel . Biodiesel from wastes or from industrial waste sites can provide a fraction of our needs .
According to an article by George Monbiot

In 2003, the biologist Jeffrey Dukes calculated that the fossil fuels we burn in one year were made from organic matter “containing 44×10 to the 18 grams of carbon, which is more than 400 times the net primary productivity of the planet’s current biota.”(1) In plain English, this means that every year we use four centuries’ worth of plants and animals.

Biodiesel as I see is not a sustainable option at all. In it's billed avatar as a solution to all our woes is not just snake oil , it is something much more destructive .

Save money as well as the environment

2006-10-12T22:34:00.000+02:00

According to the Sightline Institute an economy car releases 0.59 pounds of carbon dioxide per mile , loosely converted that is about 0.16 kg/km . As per my commuting logs till the end of September I rode about 3200 kms with an yearly projection of about 4300 kms. Simple math shows that for my commute I would be releasing 688 kgs of carbon lesser than my neighbour who makes a similar commute using a car instead of cycling .
If we assume that his car gives about 10km/ltr of city driving using 95 grade petrol at 5.20 NIS/ltr he would be spending 2236 NIS or $ 527 dollars on the gas . The insurance would put him back another 2500 NIS or $ 588 (Compulsory and third party insurance only ) , the license for the car would cost him about a 1000 NIS or $ 235 . Maintainence of the car would set him back $ 150 ( based on AAA's very conservative estimate of 0.056 $/mile ) . To sum it up, using a car for a very basic commute of 15-20km round trip would cost my neighbour $ 1500 . This doesn't include the initial cost of the car , depreciation , parking fees , the occassional parking fine and the inevitable big repairs .
Now what's stopping me from buying the Trek Madonne ridden by Lance Armstrong ? I can easily make up the cost of the bike in three years by riding to work . I can also take a longer ride everyday and save more :-) .

Grass is for the cows

2006-10-04T23:12:00.000+02:00

When Ivan Lendl blurted this out in frustration at not being able to win on grass at Wimbledon yet again , little did he realise he was voicing a very sound ecological principle . Grass is definately for the cows where it doesn't grow naturally . But for some reason grass and garden have become synonymous and people will go to absurd lengths to grow it everywhere , Jerusalem included . Most grasses guzzle water in enormous quantity , need generous amounts of fertilizers , herbicides and a lot of your time when you could have laid back and watched your local flora grow virtually unaided. Looks like some people have a similar idea about grass as this story inTreehugger

The rich really are different from you and me. Where many of us are planting green roofs and permeable paving to increase the amount of green in the world, many of the rich have "garden fatigue" and are paving it over. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Here's what's on the way out in landscaping: grass, flowers and trees.

They got the part about getting rid of the grass right but then they lost track of the script . Grass does one thing right and that is to maintain a permeable surface . So instead of losing water as surface runoff the water sits in and percolates gradually to the acquifer . In Urban areas with high percentage of paved area , surface runoff is a big issue during rains . The drainage system has to be designed for the worst possible scenario to prevent flooding and top it all , it is done at the expense of the groundwater . So if you live in an area where the climate supports grass , by all means go and plant a lawn . In areas not suitable for grasses the same can be replaced with permeable surfaces and vegetation that is native to the place . I bet the cow is also more accustomed to the local vegetation than to an imported grass .

Bike Sunday

2006-10-04T10:25:00.000+02:00

We all know the Bike friday , the incredible folding bike , but this is about the Bike Sunday or saturday here in Israel . I am talking about the Yom Kippur or he Day of Atonement . Something increddible happens on Yom Kippur , while the religious fast , all vehicular traffic comes to a standstill and everyone who is not weak from fasting comes out on the streets with their bikes , skateboards and what nots . Imagine your three year old riding in the middle of the main traffic artery !! It is an incredibly liberating feeling to so kids , people with prams , dogs and almost everybody else walking bang in the centre of the road assured that they will no one will run them over . There is a skeleton essential services traffic but with the silence so complete it is not difficult to amble away from the road .

Now why can't we have Yom Kippur everyday ?!!

Motorist , you have been yellow carded

2006-09-28T17:00:00.000+03:00

Interesting idea for motorists that take cyclists /pedestrians for granted . The idea is that you throw this Yellow card on cars that play foul . As the author puts it

Subversive intervention via businesscard-sized magnets,

.
The text from the yellow card :

Magnetic Yellow Card

"This magnet was tossed onto your car by a cyclist who felt that you might have been driving in a way that could have endangered their life.
They chose to toss this magnetic note because it can neither damage your automobile, nor affix itself to rubber or glass and will therefore not affect your driving. It serves to warn you.

With thoughtful contemplation and reverence for humanity, we can adjust our behavior to allow for all people to live life.

This is a yellow card, let’s please not let things get to Red."

Map bike routes

2006-09-25T22:32:00.000+03:00

A few days back I discovered a googlemaps enhanced site that allows you to map your bike routes. It's appropriately called Bikely . One can keep track of bike routes , add tags , discover more routes added by others . You can see one of the routes I created here .

An excellent new feature that I noticed today is that the site can create elevation graphs of the route from USGS data .

Now this bonecrusher ride may not be that much of a bonecrusher but the graph showing a 10% grade towards the end makes it pretty pretty. The ability to upload a gpx file file from your GPS receiver and download your route as a gpx files makes this utility doubly cool . One can also hop over to the topografix site to download a free GPS utility to make it more useful .

Monsanto and the axis of evil

2006-09-18T08:46:00.000+03:00

Saw an excellent documentary a few days back called the Future of food which provides an in depth look into genetically modified food and the nexus that big companies , specifically Monsanto in the film , have with the highest political levels.
Genetically modified food and Monsanto go hand in hand as Monsanto developed genetically modified food for the first time. Monsanto started as a chemicals industry with a number of patents to their name including saccharin and agent orange . Their foray into the food industry began with Roundup , a broad spectrum herbicide . Soon after Monsanto got into genetically engineered seeds which were engineered to withstand Roundup . So in principle if you sprayed a field of Monsanto cropp wtih Roundup , everything else but the crop would perish . In principle this sounds great (i.e if you are willing to have copious amounts of herbicide in your food ) , to a certain extent it works as well and then things start to get dirty . It begins with the patenting of GE (genetically engineered) seeds . Once Monsanto holds a patent on it if John Doe wants their product he has to pay for it . Traditionally farmers stored their own seed , ready for the next planting but the patent Monsanto holds makes them buy the seed everytime they plant .Replanting the seeds would lead to John Doe being sued . Then it gets dirtier . If a few seeds find their way to a field which doesn't plant Monsanto , Monsanto can come and claim that the the farmer is using their seed illegally , which means fines , penalties etc . And's whats more , since the crop is indistinguishable from traditional strains even the seed for subsequent years can be contaminated and hence it is not possible to keep your own seed .
All through this Monsanto is helped along in its goal by dubious judgements in the highest courts of law , the whole issue of testing the crop is circumvented by employing ex employees of Monsanto in the role of the watchdog . John Ashcroft , Donald Rumsfeld are a couple of names among many others that crop as being direct beneficieries of Monsano largesse , either in ways of election funds or being employees of Monsanto at a certain point in history . To quote Sourcewatch

"The connections between Monsanto and the new Bush administration are also very solid. G.W.’s pop, Bush Sr. appointed Clarence Thomas, a Monsanto attorney, to the Supreme Court. Thomas played a key role in the selection of G.W. as president. John Ashcroft, the current attorney general, was the top recipient of Monsanto contributions when he recently tried to get reelected to the U.S. Senate. Donald Rumsfeld, the current secretary of defense, was president of Searle Pharmaceuticals, now owned by Monsanto. Tommy Thompson, now the secretary of Health and Human Services, helped the biotech industry by getting the state of Wisconsin to set up a $37 million biotech zone there. He received $50,000 from the biotech industry for his reelection campaign. The current secretary of Agriculture, Ann Veneman, was on the board of directors of Calgene Pharmaceuticals, an affiliate of Monsanto. Recently, Linda J. Fisher, a former Monsanto official, was nominated by Bush to be second-in-command at the EPA. She was Monsanto’s representative in Washington from 1995 to 2000 and coordinated the company’s strategy to blunt resistance to genetically modified food" [1] (http://web.mit.edu/thistle/www/v13/4/food.html) See also GM lobby takes root in Bush's cabinet (http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,431727,00.html). Other high level government connections include Stansfield Turner, former Director of the CIA and member of the Monsanto Board [2] (http://www.nndb.com/people/964/000022898/) and Earle H. Harbison former president of Monsanto and CIA officer for 19 years [3] (http://record.wustl.edu/archive/1995/06-22-95/3766.html).

Definately a must see .

Here is more on Monsanto at sourcewtch .
sourcewatch

Pay by mile and Congestion Pricing

2006-09-10T10:01:00.000+03:00

http://www.sightline.org/daily_score/research/sust_toolkit/solutions/congestion_pricing
From a recent article in Sightline :

Oregon -- often considered a policy innovator among US states -- is in the middle of an experiment that could eventually lead to a repeal of the state gas tax.

Oregon's transportation department is recruiting volunteers to test a system that would charge people based on how far they drive, not on how much gas they use. The trial will test two rate structures -- some participants will pay a flat rate of 1.2 cents per mile, while others will pay a variable rate depending on whether they're driving during rush hour; a control group would continue to pay normal gas taxes.

The author goes on to say that the real motive behind it is that as people start using more fuel efficient cars the tax revenues from the gas will drop and so the need for an alternative way of raising revenue . I am not so impressed by this line of reasoning . After all the people who choose to use SUVs are not going to let go of them either because of the increased cost of gas . Its more of a status symbol , they migght choose to have a hybrid as well if that is what is considered fashionable , but as we know , thrift doesn't remain in fashion for long stretches , it soon becomes cheap .
I also feel that pay by mile is also more appropriate as it penalises somebody who drives further, occupies the road more leading to more congestion and slower traffic movement and arguably pollutes more .Road use should be treated like any other service , use more , pay more . A 'hummer' in any case is going to pay more either in the way of energy taxes or tax for mileage . The unfair part in this scheme is that a hybrid and an SUV are treated on parity . But here we can have a fee structure that awards bonus miles to fuel efficient cars .
The system is planned to work establising a network that tracks movement of the vehicle . This ,besides the fear of big brother watching over you , allows for congestion pricing . Congestion pricing is a sytem of regulating traffic wherein the price of use of the roads depends on how congested the roads are , it can be either paying a premium to drive during rush hour or pay for access to congested areas as in London. The system fully developed can monitor distance and when and where the vehicle was used .

Ascii bike art

2006-09-06T15:22:00.000+03:00

Sweet ascii art here .

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CFL s and the mercury risk

2006-09-04T13:46:00.000+03:00

A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), also known as a compact fluorescent light bulb or an energy saving lightbulb, is a type of fluorescent lamp that screws into a regular light bulb socket or plugs into a small lighting fixture.

In comparison to incandescent light bulbs, CFLs have a longer rated life and use less electricity. In fact, CFLs save enough money in electricity costs to make up for their higher initial price within about 500 hours of use.

Source Wikipedia.

The only catch is that CFLs have mercury in them . As long as the bulb doesn't break and is recycled after use , all is well . But what happens if the bulb breaks and/or is not recycled and is thrown into the garbage on it's way to the landfill ? Mercury as we know is dangerous when it finds way into the waterways and is converted to it's methylated form . This is taken up by small fish which are eaten by progressively largeer fish , gradually concentrating the mercury . In it's concentrated form mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin . So I was a bit skeptical about CFLs until I came across this. . The highlights of this article are

The mercury in a CFL is no threat to the environment unless the glass is broken. For a basis of comparison, there are about one to three grams of mercury in your average home thermometer. It would take between 250 to 1000 CFLs to equal that same amount.

The highest source of mercury in our air comes from burning fossil fuels such as coal. A CFL uses up to 75% less energy than an incandescent light bulb and lasts up to 10 times longer. A power plant will emit 10mg of mercury to produce the electricity to run an incandescent bulb compared to only 2.4mg of mercury to run a CFL for the same time

So all in all CFL seem to be safer to use , much better if we have a mechanism to recycle the CFLs .

Want a Hybrid ? Become a Knesset member

2006-08-31T13:57:00.000+03:00

For those of us concerned about our elected members spending taxpayers money on their fancy gas guzzling Volvos there is good news .

Knesset Members Will Be Able to Opt for Hybrid Vehicles
Updated: 08/31/2006

Following the request of Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra to the Speaker of the Knesset Dalia Itzik, the Speaker has stated that within the framework of a tender won by the New Kopel company, Knesset Members will be able to order hybrid vehicles which are available in Israel: Honda Civic 1.6 liter and Toyota Prius 1.5 liter.

Hybrids are a step in the right direcion and who better than our elected menmbers to do the me first to set a precedent . There are certain issues that need to be address . The fuel consumption of the cars , Honda and Prius, is much higher than the advertised consumption as mentioned here and here . Couple it up with the hefty price tag , the cars start to look less attractive . Economics is quite naturally not the main concern here , the concern is what sort of impact it has on the environment . But until we stop using fossil fuels and start using green energy for electricity we are not doing much by using a hybrid . We are reducing the emission levels when we are driving but we are still burning the fossil fuel at some other place .
So the Knesset needs to adopt another resoluion of gradually phasing out fossil fuel run power plants and to promote alternative forms of energy . At the same time they can subsidise hybrids for the cattle class because in the end the average guy may want to save the environment but he won't do it from his pocket .

Dood shemesh (solar water heaters) - Time for a rethink

2006-08-29T00:20:00.000+03:00

This is comment I left on Treehugger for this story

I have been living in Jeruselem for the past few years and the 'dood shemesh' ( I prefer to spell it that way ) is an integral part of the skyline , very jarring at times but let's leave the aesthetics for the time being . The dood works wonderfully well in the summer , we have hot water for the bath , for cleaning washing , infact we can even flush with hot water if we want . In winters, when you really need , the dood falls short . True we don't have harsh winters and even on a cold day you can have lukewarm water in the afternoon but very often the dood is located a couple of floors away from it is used , so you waste quite a bit of water and secondly invariably the electrical heating element is located in the tank on the roof which is exposed to the elements and inspite of being insulated is losing heat constantly . I don't have figures but I am told that the dood actually is less economical . If one factors in the cost of the collectors and the boiler and the fact that they need to be changed every few years , the dood is no longer that economical or green .

This needs to be researched a bit more before we let the axe fall on the dood . A very simple way to save the water that you need to let go waste is to have an additional boiler within the house which is fed by the tank on the top . That way if it is cold outside the tank inside the house is not effected by the cold and you don't waste energy heating water that is quite exposed .

Shop till you drop , it's ok if it's green

2006-08-28T23:20:00.000+03:00

A few days back in an interview in Treehugger Joel Makeover claimed that the biggest eco-myth doing the rounds is that

.. we can shop our way to environmental health .

And I can't agree with him more . Every green page is flooded with green links , which invariably point to sites selling green prducts . Do we need all of these things albeit being green ? I hold the view that one of the basic tenets of going green is following the three R's which are namely reduce , reuse and recycle . To buy less would be a very logical conclusion but somehow I see that there is a wide chasm there , a leap in logic , the message going out is that it's ok to buy your guts out provided it is green . Even Joel falls prey to this belief , with his love for fast cars and business/manufacturing models that adopt a greener approach but the bottom line remains the same , sell , sell , sell . Acoording to Nicholas Parker of Cleantech Venture network

It’s about money, Mr. Parker said. And venture capitalists are clamoring to get in. In the first two quarters, venture capitalists invested $379 million in 30 cleantech companies, according to the National Venture Capital Association. That is up from $230.8 million in 27 companies in all of 2005.

Read the rest here .

It's no wonder that green products are one of the fastest growing sectors , we can continue being the same voracious consumers but with a clear conscience !!

Solar glass

2006-08-22T09:56:00.000+03:00

New technology that allows solar cells to be applied directly onto glass while still retaining it's transparency . The story here

[blockquote]XsunX specializes in the development of unique solar cell designs and manufacturing processes that reduce the cost per watt of solar power and increase its potential applications. Unlike today’s rigid solar cells, all of the XsunX designs to date are completely flexible. Imagine what this flexible power makes possible!

XsunX first solar cell technology, called Power Glass™, can be applied to glass windows allowing them to generate electricity while still remaining largely transparent. XsunX is also developing an opaque solar cell that is so thin and flexible that it can be integrated into other building materials, such as roofing and siding. The possibilities are virtually endless[/blockquote]

The Green Skeptic
The material has it's merit but I am a bit uncertain about this technology , maybe just because of lack of information .

The article doesn't state clearly whether it can be applied onto existing glazing or it is somethig that is at a manufacturing stage . If it is in the latter then would people get rid of old glazing to take advantage of this technology ? This as we know will end up in the city dump.

Does the application os XsunX allow for the recycling of glass ?

And how green is this technology really if it promotes use of large glazings , aluminum , elements that can be recycled but are very energy intensive in production .
Does the use of this technology offset the additional energy costs that we will incurr due to large glazed areas ?

Maybe we are once again trying to convince ourselves that we can continue living the way we have become accustomed to .

Carbon Rationing

2006-08-21T16:32:00.000+03:00

From

Carbon Cards: Lifeline for Planet or Big Brother?
Filling up the car at the gas station could take a few seconds longer in future -- to deduct points from your personal "greenhouse gas" ration card.

Issuing every citizen with an electronic card to encourage them to reduce energy use is one of the most radical ideas for curbing reliance on fossil fuels, widely blamed for global warming.

The article goes on to talk about how it would not work in USA , quotas are too direct a reminder to the 'other' from the cold war era I presume . But fuel rationing is not somethig unknown . In Israel , I am told , during the 80's each car had a tag denoting which day of the week it was not allowed to be on the road . The story goes on that all the religious people went and got tags for 'shabbat' ( sabbath - saturday ) a day they don't drive . Well trust the Jewish brain for a workaround !!!

Generating energy from footfalls

2006-08-21T15:49:00.000+03:00

Repost from Wired

British engineers are converting street vibrations into electricity and predict a working prototype by Christmas capable of powering facility lights in the busiest areas of a city.

"We can harvest between 5 to 7 watts of energy per footstep that is currently being wasted into the ground," says Claire Price, director of The Facility Architects, the British firm heading up the Pacesetters Project. "And a passing train can generate very useful energy to run signaling or to power lights."

Interesting idea , the drawback or the catch is how can this energy tapped and used when the source of energy is not continuous .
I had a similar idea while standing next to the Tel Aviv Jerusalem highway and almost being blown off my feet with passing vehicles . The suction that the vehicles moving at 100+ kmph is tremendous , by the way same as drafting when on a bicycle , so if one was to line the 60 km stretch between TA to Jerusalem we could surely produce enough energy to light up the highway .
Ps ; If I could figure out how to wire my kids to tap all the energy they expend , I would be a millionaire .

Introductions

2006-07-19T22:33:00.000+03:00

Hi , as the title suggests, I am a bike commuter , not one of those with their fancy bikes and fancy biker clother , the other kind that dress kind of funny , tights and t-shirts when the sun is shining or tights and a rain jacket in winter . No fancy streamlined bikes with skinnies here , just an old beater with fat knobbies with a seat for a kid in the back and to hold the groceries when I am coming through the shouk . I am one of the breed that kids snigger at when their school bus passes by and the grownups in their cars ( isn't that the way all grownups you know travel) either passively wish you were not there or actively try to make it happen . In winters they love to spray as they pass by and in summers just honk more puposefully . Well you get the idea . All year round we brave the elements and the cars and buses for one simple reason , we , and here I am taking liberty in speaking in the multiple , love it . Nothing beats riding to work , the best caffeine fix , the best way not to get stuck in a traffic jam , the best way to feel good that my 7 km commute burnt a mere 250 calories instead of 12600 calories had I taken a car and didnt release any nauseous hydrocarbons into the atmosphere . It lets you leave behind the work , the boss and all the frayed nerves behind . So all in all it ain't such a bad deal . you can sit in your car at the traffic light while watching my rear or you can join me .
The blog is not just about biking , but it is in the same spirit , using technology that is efficient and essentialy sustainable , aimed at reducing one's footprint on the earth . Easier done on a bike than a 3500cc Chevy .