When General Motors unveiled the Chevrolet Volt, the media was caught off balance and failed to fully appreciate what the engineers at GM had come up with. Is it an electric car? Is it a hybrid? Is it an extended range electric car? The debate went on and on. Does it really matter and who cares anyway? So while the auto techno-experts argued over where exactly to put the Volt, people were quietly buying them and putting them in their garages. Best of all, Motor Trend magazine got it right and called the Volt “Car Of The Year”. One of the new Volt owners was Jeff Parmet, who purchased his…
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Hoop Houses: Eat from Your Garden Earlier and Longer
Compiled by Gary Munkhoff Hoop houses are a great do-it-yourself project that can make it possible for you to garden all year long. They can also be used for storage, as a temporary garage, or even as a workshop. They are inexpensive, easy to construct and when completed they also: Add to two months to either end of your growing season. Provide room to set out your plant starts until they can be planted in your garden. Let you grow winter greens, like spinach, all through the winter season. Give tomatoes those over 60 degree warm nights that they need for setting fruit. Protect your plants from wind and frost.…
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Wood in the Course of Human Events
Wood has got to be one of nature’s most miraculous gifts to the human race. We have depended on wood for fuel, tools, weapons, and shelter since before the dawn of history. Even in this high tech world of the twenty first century there is wood everywhere, in one form or another, no matter if we are flying across the country at 30,000 feet, riding in a subway beneath the streets of Manhattan, or sitting on the sofa in front of the TV set. The sad fact is that wood has been with us for so long and is present in so many different forms that we no longer notice…
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Velomobiles in the Gorge
If you were traveling on I-84 on July 29, 2011 you might have seen what appeared to be a whole bunch of kiddie cars heading east. Well they weren’t kiddie cars, they were velomobiles and they were going from Portland to Washington, DC as part of the Roll Across America Tour (ROAM). The tour was billed as the classic tour across the United States, a great adventure, a challenge to will and strength – a world premiere of velomobiling. 5000 km, four weeks, fifty riders from Europe and North America. They arrived in Washington, DC on August 24th, 2011. So what is a velomobile? Basically it is a recumbent bicycle…
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History, Habits & Water Bottles
In early 1946 when my dad returned home from the Philippines after the end of WWII, he brought with him a treasure trove of neat stuff to fire the imagination of a seven year old. All the right stuff was there for exploring the empty lots in our Long Island (NY) suburban neighborhood: knapsack, pup tent, canteen and mess kit. But the canteen was far and away my favorite, for with it, I was free to roam far beyond the limits of the “run home for a glass of water” range. This sturdy veteran of “The War” was to be my introduction to a wide array of containers needed to…
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A Truck Farm Grows in Brooklyn
Leave it to the folks in the Big Apple to give a brand new and very literal meaning to the term “truck farm”. Ian Cheney, Curt Ellis, Carla Fleisher, and Stephanie Bleyer have joined forces to create and promote their “Truck Farm” concept which has a definite “rockin’ and rollin” flavor to it. The idea is simple: take an old Dodge pickup, fill the bed with garden soil, plant the bed with seeds, add water, wait a few weeks, and then drive the growing produce to the customer. You just can’t get any fresher than that. Their idea has taken root right here in Portland (OR) thanks to the efforts…
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Community Solar Farms
Here’s a great idea that makes so much sense you wonder why it hasn’t happened long before now. Community Solar Farms. Solar panels are appearing on more and more roofs. But what about people who rent, live in a condominium, have shaded roofs, who might move or live in a historic district or home owners association? This is the majority of Americans! In several states, people can own solar panels in a common array called a solar garden,supplying their homes through the existing power grid. The Solar Garden Institute out of Westminster, CO advocates for community based energy development through legislation in several states, and the federal SUN (Solar Uniting…
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Bob’s Ultimate Driving Machine
People with the ability to take something that interests them and turn it into a passion have always fascinated me, and, I might add, raised a certain amount of envy as well. And, even more so, when that passion makes a difference, not only in that person’s life, but in the lives of all of us as well. Quite often, and usually during times of crisis, these people come to our attention because the focus of their passions offer solutions to that very crisis. Enter Bob Simpson, who gave a presentation at a recent Solar Oregon gathering that I attended. He briefly described the conversion of his gasoline powered BMW…
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EcoApprentice Brings College Students and Businesses Together for the Environment
A soon to be launched, interactive website will unite businesses and college students in an ongoing effort to better the environment. EcoApprentice.com is the brainchild of Richard Halpern, a public high school counselor who drew on 15 years of experience in education to combine two of his passions‚ sustainability and career based education. EcoApprentice will foster collaboration between college students and businesses in the implementation of sustainable goals. Participating businesses and nonprofits will post EcoChallenges, while students enrolled in participating colleges and universities will post EcoSolutions. This practical collaboration could lead to earning college credits, career based learning experiences and future employment contacts for the students. Moreover, businesses could gain…
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Life Without Wheels – An Interview with Kevin Pile
Surely you’ve had one of those days when you thought about just giving up owning a car altogether. You know, one of those days when you just found out that the new timing belt’s going to cost you $1800 and while they are in there working on that they might as well do…(you fill in the blank)… for another $….(again, you fill in the blank)…. Or maybe it was the day the monthly payment, the gas bill, the new plates and the insurance premium all had to be paid in the same week. Or even better, maybe you are one of those that is tired of spewing exhaust gases into…
