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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John Day or Bust
John Day Or Bust is a call to action for all-electric vehicle (EV) enthusiasts who support the vision that replacing the internal combustion engines (ICE) that are now powering America’s fleet of personal vehicles with electric drive systems is the quickest and cheapest path to breaking our addiction to oil.
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Where were you in 1991?
Solar Energy International Was Just Getting Started Teaching the World About Renewable Energy Technologies. Solar Training and Renewable Energy Education – Celebrating 20 Years For 20 years, Solar Energy International has been dedicated to hands-on and online solar training and renewable energy education in wind, micro-hydro, sustainable building and developing world technologies. Solar Energy International also works with grassroots and development organizations to promote sustainability and improve quality of life worldwide through viable outreach programs. SEI Training Programs Through our Renewable Energy Education Program (REEP), SEI offers hands-on workshops and online courses in solar PV, wind, micro-hydro, solar hot water and natural home building. SEI Development Work SEI works cooperatively with grassroots and…
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Skin is No Obstacle for BPA
Bisphenol-A, also known as BPA, is an industrial chemical component of many widely-used items including plastics, resins, canned food linings, and paper goods. Studies have suggested that long-term or high-dose exposure to the organic, estrogen-like compound disrupts the body’s endocrine system and may be linked to cancer, heart disease, intestinal damage, reproductive problems, erectile dysfunction, diabetes, obesity, impaired neurodevelopment, and behavioral changes in children. BPA is a part of a thermal paper coating that acts as a color developer in small credit card and cash register receipt printers. According to a CBS news report, some receipts contain up to1,000 times the levels found in a can of food. Needless to…
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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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Tips for an Eco-Conscious Wedding
Weddings are a huge and expensive undertaking and can leave an even bigger footprint on the environment. More and more couples are looking for ways to be more environmentally friendly which can be difficult since weddings are typically associated with hyper-consumption and produce a great deal of waste. Invitations, decorations, food, travel, etc. the list is endless. Unfortunately, many items at a wedding only get used once and are tossed. By incorporating any number of these suggestions for an eco-conscious wedding, you’ll be doing your part to sustain the earth while being a role model for others.Invitations and PaperCutting down on paper invitations is one of the easiest ways to…
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Biodiversity and the Google Menu
This article was originally printed in “Who’s Your Farmer” a guide to eating locally in the Gorge, published by the Gorge Grown Grown Food Network. Google is committed to giving back and broadening our community outreach. We encourage green stewardship practices that support long-term well-being environmentally, economically and socially. With our office located in the agriculturally dense region as the Columbia Gorge, we hope to encourage additional promotion and use of sustainable local farming and business practices that foster biodiversity as well as promote the health of our community’s members. As part of our efforts in this area, the Dalles data center has partnered with Bon Appetit and their Farm 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…
