One of my big ideas is to get away from the supermarket model in America. Not only has it made two-thirds of the country overweight or obese, but it also wastes an incredible amount of…well, everything. From an NRDC report (pdf): Getting food from the farm to our fork eats up 10 percent of the …
Continue reading “America throws away 40% of its food – under the supermarket model”
From Mapping the Nation: A beautiful–and extremely controversial–map made by John Wesley Powell…best known for his insistence the west must be understood as an arid region, one that demanded irrigation and management rather than a reliance on rainfall. In the late 1880s, Powell undertook a large-scale survey of the far west to demonstrate that the …
Continue reading “Alternative map of the American West – as sustainable water regions”
Through a series of pumps and electricity, from the USGS Water Science School: Let’s assume that you get your water from the local water department through pipes buried below the streets. In other words, you don’t have your own well in your back yard. Chances are that you get your water through gravity and pumps. …
If you want to peek inside the barrel or get up-close-and-personal with marine life, then you will love Aaron Goulding’s work. He loves grabbing those inside-the-tube shots and quiet ocean moments. But everyone wants a self-portrait of themselves catching a wave and in the barrel. Enjoy a few of his photos and visit his company JAG Media …
Continue reading “The photography of Aaron Goulding – peering inside the waves”
The wave park will include 10 buoys stringed together and linked to the coast through an underwater power cable. It is the result of six years of far-sighted research and development, and $10 million of funding. From One World One Ocean: Last month, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the country’s first commercial wave …
Continue reading “Federal government approves first wave powered project off Oregon coast”
The average person uses 80-100 gallons of water a day. But where is all that water used? Toilet – 27% Laundry – 22% Shower – 17% Faucet – 16% Leaks – 14% Water stats: Showers – 2 gallons/minute – bathtub holds 36 gallons. Kitchen faucets – 2 gallons/minute. Bathroom faucet – 1 gallon/minute. …
Here is a report that studied water trends from the past 50 years (pdf) and found both good/bad news. The good: A household in the 2008 billing year used 11,678 gallons less water annually than an identical household did in 1978. To investigate the causes of this decline, a local study of statistically representative households of …
Continue reading “Residential water trends for the United States”
From the USGS Water Science School: Let’s say your house sits on a one-half acre lot. And let’s say you get a storm that drops 1 inch of rain. You’ve just received 13,577 gallons of water on your yard. A big bath holds about 40 gallons of water, so if you could save that inch …
Continue reading “How many baths could I get from a rainstorm?”
It’s hard to commit to using less water because it involves everything fine and delicate: cleaning our bodies, our food, and our clothes. We have a level of comfort with cleanliness and nobody wants to be smelly. The United States is particularly obsessed with this (“Cleanliness is next to Godliness”). We use nearly as much water …
Continue reading “Become a water warrior – 9 recommendations for water conservation”
From the Union-Tribune – Historic drought ripples across Southwest: It’s been a brutal summer…in the upper Colorado River basin. The drought that’s spanned the nation for months has wrung out the Rocky Mountain region where much of the West’s water is produced. Residents of northwestern Colorado are watching gardens fail, crops wither, forest fire threats grow, …
Continue reading “Are you aware much of the U.S. is in a devastating drought?”