Going green?16:44 Jun 10 2011
Times Read: 1,455
Cancer had an entry in his journal about the Nissan Leaf (electric car.) It made me think about the different directions I'm going in and my motives.
I do like the idea of making less negative footprints on the earth, but I'm not always convinced that the products marketed today genuinely represent that goal. Sometimes converting to another fuel impacts the environment in ways hidden from the consumer, like the fuel and energyused to produce the alternative...is it really cleaner? Is it safer?
I bought a Honda Insight this year. It's a hybrid car. I have to be honest about my reasoning - it's cheap as hell to run. I just filled it up the other day for under $30. I consistently get 40+ mpg in the city. I have yet to really test its legs on the interstate. It was an affordable car that saves me money every day.
Personal Economics is a great motivator. It's also a cute car that's fun to drive. It even has a video game aspect, if you're into that. The speedometer glows green when you're driving most efficiently and you actually "level up" if you "earn enough leaves." All info provided by the myriad ways this car feeds information back to you if you want it. But if you don't...it's just a nice little car.
Another interesting feature is the auto engine cutoff at stops. It's a little unsettling at first. Each time I stop at a stop sign or a red light, the gas engine turns off and the battery takes over. It gets very quiet and the air conditioner keeps running, but it's a few degrees less cool. It doesn't affect the radio or anything else I've noticed. The second my foot moves off the brake, the engine purrs back into life. It still freaks my passengers out.
Stabb and I just bought five and a half acres outside town and are thinking about decisions we can make on the front end that will affect the fuel consumption of the new house and out buildings. We're looking at water, wind, and of course, solar options. We're considering greener, more efficient insulation options, and construction materials. It's much easier to plan this stuff out in the beginning than to refit your home later.
One consistency I have noticed. Traditional materials are WAY less expensive. The "greener" you try to go, the more the original outlay and the years you have to calculate before you really feel the economic benefits. So you ask, "Am I really committed to being more green...or am I interested in personal economics?"
There are some tax benefits to making that greener choice. This year, I'll get a nice tax break for the car purchase...it's designed to be an incentive, but it didn't influence my decision. I will, however, claim the write-off. There are similar benefits for building greener - they ARE incentives and I'm looking at them.
How about you? What influences you to "go green" or to remain with traditional options like gas-only automobiles and traditional building materials? I will confess that if you are a Top Gear kinda person, you'll never go from 0-60 in a hurry in my Insight. That kind of performance seems, for now, to remain with our old friends the gasoline-run engines. My dad was curious and opened my hood, looked at my two small side-by-side gas and battery engines and made this classic remark, "It's so cute!"
COMMENTS
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PAGAN
18:03 Jun 30 2011
*nods head*
yep. I always wonder why the folk who hate it so much bother to log in... There must be some evil thing forcing them to switch on their computer and type in their passwords. Yes-siree.
VSD
18:05 Jun 30 2011
Honorable Consul,
Personally, I have never liked chicken houses, but they all squawk, even the most seasoned chicken. I do find a sense of wretchedness in your words, but I suppose that speaks of a fine wine of vintage discord and evil. If no one ever re-acted ^, then, all could say, "It's just for shits, kicks, giggles, and chickens clucking ^.
Do you know what a tree stump beside a chicken house is used for? Usually to decapitate the loudest chicken - for they are sometimes the most delicious. And the ax, well, you sharpen it with a rock, lick the blade for a clean cut, keep the head for broth, and enjoy a fine fat old and ripe -once clucking- chicken for dinner.
XOXOXO mwa
Sincerely,
V.S.D.
deathnitegrl
18:20 Jun 30 2011
Before reading this entry, I checked the who's online page and I rarely do that, I spotted about 4 kismets stating they're going to leave.
I have a few sections that I check regularly, others I completly ignore, the Dark Network has plenty of sections to check, I still don't see how someone can dislike the whole of it.
LiamK
02:00 Jul 18 2011
This is a total stab in the dark, but I'm going to push forward the suggestion that your friend from Who's Online is less letting himself be trolled and more struggling to process the increasingly strong suspicion that his hard earned point tally will not soon attract displays of the same fawning envy he once felt from others. Denied validation after his efforts to spam add requests and consigned to join the masses shamefully devoid of influence or status, he has only two choices left to him: loudly proclaim his disdain for the whole operation, from whence he shall presently depart for some exclusive clique of higher standards... or to not be better than you.
Joli
02:20 Jul 18 2011
You nailed it, Liam.