This is my dream: To live as my forefathers once did - in harmony with the land that sustains us. A project to investigate and innovate the creation of a low impact home with methods of living in a form of permaculture designed to sustain my family and improve biodiversity. To leave the land richer than before and in doing so enable others to do so.
People, like grass need get thirsty
Posted 01/07/09 by Matt B in the Urban category
People are a lot like grass - when rich in water grass prospers but leave it dry and it struggles to survive.
Similarly the area of Thanet is struggling because there is a lack of "water" to keep the shops and businesses open.
As a green fingered soul I know that there are two options when the soil you have is not easily sustaining the plants there.
The first option is to seek outside input such as a hose pipe and some chemical soil enrichment agent. This requires an unsustainable effort but is a short term fix.
The second option is to consolidate. Overly demanding plants should be cut back and plants that are not coping can be trimming to make it easier for them to continue. This material can then be used to create food for the plants in the form of compost. In extreme conditions one might even have to divert water from one area and let it die in order to sustain another area.
What would never work is to divert some water from each area in order to establish a new area. Sadly for Thanet this is what is being attempted and the economy is as dry as the grass.
Matt's Big Garden
Posted 14/06/09 by Matt B in the Online category
Frustrated by my lack of garden, field or woodland to care for I have started to act without them. I have talked a friend with a house into letting me run his soon to be vegetable patch and have signed up for a gardening project that is entering it's second week.I will be tagging the posts MattsBigGarden.
A tag is just a way of letting engines know about a keyword that one wishes to associate with the blog post or item. So far the before pictures are going up but the during and after images are starting to be ready too.
We are turning this
Into something nice.
Wish us luck.
Off-Grid Man Jailed For Confronting Utility Company
Posted 20/05/09 by Matt B in the Urban category
In the Pittsburgh area, a man went to jail rather than let the local power company run an electric line through his property. He's also in some hot water for refusing to connect to the local sewer system. Although he’s repeatedly lost in criminal court, William Williams, 76, of Cecil, vows to continue removing the guy wire and its anchor in his yard each time the power company replaces them. For Mr. Williams, it’s all a matter of civil disobedience. He said he refuses to surrender his property rights to the utilities.
How far would you be willing to go to protect your right to home and privacy, your right to live "off grid" if so you choose?
Solar Energy - It is Popular. So Why is it Not Yet Widely Used?
Posted 17/05/09 by Matt B in the Urban category
The fact is, the 350,000,000 terawatts of power available from the sun is so huge that an exposure to a full sun in only 15 minutes will be enough to generate the world's energy requirementCompare this gargantuan amount of free energy with energy that is generated by nuclear and fossil fuel. Presently, the available data for fossil and nuclear fuel offers us a mere 10,800,000 terawatts which we all know to be non renewable.
To produce electricity, utility companies burn fossil fuels at a rate that translate to 1.3 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce 1kw of electrical power. These unwanted CO2 emissions are pumped into the atmosphere where they cause all sorts of mayhem. This then translates into each typical home being accountable yearly for 22,000 pounds of CO2 emissions.
The harnessing of the sun's rays is clean and safe. It produces no emissions and it is practical and may, in the years ahead, prove very economical. In the USA, for eaxmple, only 0.1% (1kw in ever 1000kw) of power that is generated is solar energy.
So what are the obstacles that stand between clean safe and unlimited and us, the people?
» Read More: Solar Energy - It is Popular. So Why is it Not Yet Widely Used?
Saving Energy - Solutions That Will Not Change Your Lifestyle
Posted 28/04/09 by Matt B in the Urban category
The rise and drop in temperatures in the coming years, place intense pressures on consumers around the world as this means only one thing, more energy and fuel are needed to control the environment and make homes more comfortable. Yet this is a self destructive path and we must be careful not to comfort ourselves into dust.Over the years, new technology has been invented to improve the manner of living - energy saving devices are not excluded. However, new technology, as always, is a bit expensive at first. And the prices will go down after some time. Instead of waiting for a more affordable energy saving devices, we can apply our common sense today in saving energy.
» Read More: Saving Energy - Solutions That Will Not Change Your Lifestyle
Comments are paused.
Posted 07/04/09 by Matt B in the Online category
Comments are closed for today. This is to stop a massive spam attack taking down the server. I will re-enable them shortly.Sorry to cause you any delay in giving feedback or chatting.
We are on thin ice
Posted 07/04/09 by Matt B in the Online category
The total volume of sea ice in the Arctic is likely to have reached a record low last summer, despite previous reports that the area of ice recovered slightly from the previous year's dramatic decline, leading experts have warned.
We are already living greatly beyond our means and the "bank" is going to have to close down our line of credit soon.
No we are not talking about cash but about the need for us to stop using more resources than we have available to us as a planet. The world is getting ever smaller and what you or I do at home or in the shops does and will have an impact on every living thing on the planet for decades to come.
The signs are getting clearer to see
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