To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Get a load of this. Excellent advice. I can't recommend this highly enough. There are even a few pointers there for myself. I don't, for instance, have an Oil Press or a food mill. Must look into that. I also don't have a meat grinder but, having been a vegetarian for the past twelve years,... Continue Reading →
Syraq, that recently named new proto-nation, an unofficial joint venture between Syria and Iraq, facilitated by there being no recognisable joint border separating them from one another and having at least some form of organised structure in the shape of Daesh, the so-called Islamic State in charge of at least parts of both countries. And... Continue Reading →
Have you ever considered what life would be like without that very thin, fragile band of concentrated gases (concentrated in relation to what lays beyond it anyway) that we call our planetary atmosphere? How about that tenuous (meaning barely noticeable) magnetic field that reaches out into space to protect us from cosmic plasma and radiation? ... Continue Reading →
France is introducing laws "requiring all of the nation’s “collective restaurants” (school cafeterias, hospital cafeterias, senior living communities, prisons and other state institutions) to source at least 40 percent of their food locally". "In addition to being locally sourced, the food served must be in season, organically grown and certified ecologically sustainable". This post inspired... Continue Reading →
Image credit: Source unknown, except it was found on Facebook: Natural Cures Not Medicine I understand this sentiment, and the underlying idea and truth behind it, but we have to be careful in ascribing personality or personification to a totally natural, material object, subject to the laws of the physical realm, just as we... Continue Reading →
Here’s a bright idea, reblogged from ‘L to the Aura’: – Bullfrog Power (watch the video).
It’s a Canadian thing but we have the same (different company) going on in Australia too. Well, to be fair, it started in New Zealand and a couple of years ago landed on Aussie shores.
Anyway, it’s a great idea which anyone who agrees with the need to do something about climate change could make part of any positive action plan that they may already have. And it won’t cost an arm and a leg. If you know about the dangers of climate change then you also must know that we all must change our lifestyles, perhaps in major ways, otherwise those changes will be forced on us by natural events. Here’s a way to do something.
I have been paying extra for 100% green energy in my electricity consumption, among other things, for around five years now, and until the normal Aussie energy retailers realised that this was not in their best interests and stopped offering the option to do that (I guess with Tony Abbott as PM they thought they could get away with that). So, for the last two years I have an account with Powershop, ranked Australia’s greenest power company (http://www.powershop.com.au/) our ‘Bullfrog Power’ if you like.
Yes, I may be paying a little extra for electricity, but …and it is a big but… with the standard discounts they offer, and frequent ‘specials’, I am actually paying less than before. Why not check it out.
If you decide this is for you, then let me know. We can both get a $75 credit that way, for introduction by a friend. Just saying.
Over the past two years, I have been working to reduce the impact of the energy consumed by my home. From creating an energy baseline, to minimizing heating/cooling and lighting loads, I have been able to reduce my energy consumption by over 20% for the household.
Plug loads were planned to be the next main area of focus for further reducing my energy consumption. However, there is a fine balance to be played between the waste created by discarding old appliances and the energy savings available. These trade offs should be weighed individually.
I lucked out that when I purchased my home as it came with recently replaced energy star appliances – and so, although there may be more efficient models available, I have decided to make responsible energy choices for these appliances only when they are in need of being replaced. Additionally, lets face it, new appliances can be expensive –…
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They may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they are people with a purpose. Image: Vladimir Putin with the Night Wolves’ Alexander ‘The Surgeon’ Zaldostanov. Photograph: Alexey Druzhinin/AFP/Getty Images Yes, they are bikers, with a typical biker mentality, and yes, you wouldn't want to take them home to meet your mother, but they have... Continue Reading →
'The Shipping News Says the World Economy Is Toast'. Image Source: Shanghai Shipping Exchange via Bloomberg While the 'toast' thing may be something of an overstatement of the situation right now, the information presented here does make it very clear that 'stuff' is not being moved about around the world nearly as much as it... Continue Reading →
