I really wanted to share this as it touches where I see myself and my family in terms of our greenness. No-one is 100% eco-friendly in this modern world. We all consume, we all are a part of the global economy, and as a geek family we all use our computers, cellphones, cars, etc. The main point of the whole thing is that we try to do what we can to reduce, reuse and recycle with the eventual hope that we can minimize our footprint.

Aren’t we all, really? Whether from ignorance, arrogance, or just our everyday desires as human beings, we are all eco-sinners in one way or another from time to time. Unless you live in a cave in a remote part of the world, you commit eco-sins almost every day of your life. We all do it – we drive cars, we eat unsustainable food, we shop at big box stores, we use computers, we watch TV. Many of the eco-sins we commit are unavoidable in the modern world, and as much as I try to live a sustainable life, the fact is that none of us live a truly “green” existence. It’s simply impossible. To use myself as an example, I wanted to look at a few things that I enjoy/do that could never be considered environmentally-friendly no matter what:

- I drive a car. I have just gotten my restricted licence so I am driving my wife and step-daughter around. I have been driving a moped for almost a year now. No matter if you drive a Prius or a Porsche, you are still driving a car – which is nowhere near “green” at all. Sure, a hybrid is better (although some would disagree) than a standard car, but it’s not as eco-friendly as walking is. Even a bike requires raw materials to make!

- I work on a computer all day. require raw materials, shipment from Asia, energy to use, and somewhere to dispose of when you are done with them. It’s also full of toxic chemicals that can affect the earth long after they are discarded. Computers tend to be replaced quite often, get left powered on 24/7 in millions of homes and offices, and require incredibly large data centers to deliver information to. There is nothing green about computers. At all.

- I sometimes eat unsustainably grown food. Not everything I feed myself with is organic, Free Trade, Fair Trade, grass-fed, cage free, or locally produced. It’s not possible unless the only thing you eat is food you organically grow in your own backyard. Even “health food” at most restaurants is not sustainably grown and/or processed.

- I turn the heat on. I have a refrigerator, a plug-in coffee maker, a cellphone. I have furniture, books, a bed to sleep in at night.

Anyone acting holier-than-thou about “being green” are trying to fool you into believing that they don’t do any of the stuff I listed above and that you should be ashamed if you do. No one, unless you live in a cave, is above being an “eco-sinner” of sorts. That doesn’t mean we are all bad and don’t care – it’s just part of being a modern day human. The key then, really, is to try to do as much as you possibly can to live in a sustainable way while encouraging others to adapt some of those same habits – not berating them with “Do As I Say, Not As I Do“. Encourage others to use less energy, buy less stuff, eat better food – but explain to them WHY they should be doing it while you are encouraging them.

Biking is better for the environment than using your car is, same as eating less meat is better than gorging on steak every night of the week. Making sure your TV is on a power strip that can be turned off all night is certainly better than letting it suck vampire power for 8-10 hours each day. And buying your food from a local Farmer’s Market is much better than buying it from a big chain grocer. But none of us are perfect – not by a long shot. So when you preach what you do to others, do you come across as condescending? Or do you come across as someone truly trying to help? The only way for this environmental movement to move forward is through encouragement and understanding – not guilt. And because I understand I am in fact an eco-sinner like everyone else, it helps me when trying to explain why I do the things I do. So admit you too are an eco-sinner and imperfect in your quest to “go green”… and then do your best to encourage positive changes in your friends, family, colleagues. Dictation without reason just sounds like a guilt trip – and none of us need more of those!

This is freaking awesome! I got one of those crappy microscopes that let you see *SFA* when I was a kid. Wish I had one of these!

This Renewable Energy Experiment Kit has a wind turbine, solar cell, electrolytic cells, and a hand-operated dynamo which generate electricity that is stored in a rechargeable battery. The stored energy can then be distributed through the integrated circuit board to power a motor, LEDs, and buzzer using wiring terminated with alligator clips. The kit’s sourcebook explains different methods for reducing energy costs at home while providing a primer about the world’s energy sources.

Alas, over here the closest we can get is actual Alternate Energy kits, nothing as fun as that. But, if you know someone in the US, you can get it here!

The before photos are approx Autumn/Winter and the after photos are Summer. (Before/After Spring)

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Originally uploaded by WalkerWhanau

First trip to the library in a long time today. See if you can guess by the book titles what my current interests are…

Also, I am so into this Project365. Having the motivation to get the camera out and take a photo a day is good. It helps me to take a few photos each day because I take the camera where I think we will be.

This instructable will show you how to make a natural looking raised garden using only small branches, a few thicker logs and some straight timber sections. This design was the product of clearing up a garden and not wanting to dump or burn the branches.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Natural-Wood-Raised-Garden/

And after it’s planted and covered with leaves for warmth (the tomatoes are long gone now)

But anyway, most of what I am looking as is for very small kilns, mainly to hold a few plates or bowls or whatever. I had almost given up on my google search until i came across http://www.gartside.info/woodkilnintro.htm which pretty much is the idea I was going on

I am wondering, however, about what sort of, if any, mortar should be used. I am thinking about building this on a concrete pad for the base (or some big concrete blocks with the air holes in them going crossways) so it would be a relatively permanent thing.

Once this is built and everything I can then do something fun like making all my own plates/bowls/etc and getting awesome comments from all my friends

(not sure if this should really be categorised as Green, but if it takes money away from The Man then sure, why not?)

Handy Farm Devices and How to Make Them
by Rolfe Cobleigh
Believe it or not, it is from 1910!
http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/device/devicesToC.html

1. Workshop and Tools
The Farmer’s Workshop
Running the Grindstone
A Homemade Anvil
Making a New Tool
How to Make a Shaving Horse
A Convenient Farm Horse
A Wire Splicer
Serviceable Homemade Level
To Make a Handle Stay On
A Tool Box Requisite
Soldering

2. The Steel Square
Lumber Rule
The Brace Rule
The Octagon Scale
The Miter Box
Truing the Square
Making a Straight Edge
Rafters
Stair Stringer
The 47th Problem of Euclid
The Rule of 6, 8 and 10
Angles
Plotting Angles

3. In and Around the House
The Step-Saving Dumb Waiter
Rack for Preserves
Transforming a Washstand
Homemade Dresser
Kitchen Window Cabinet
To Let in More Light
A Barrel Cradle
To Protect Baby from Hot Stove
A Box for Clothes
Scoops from Tin Cans
A Homemade Folding Table
A Homemade Butter Worker
Home Cheesemaking
Cutting the Curd
Pressing and Curing
Washes While Reading
Tread Power in the Dairy
A Lamp for Cooking
Hot Water All Night

3. In and Around the House (part II)
How to Cut Bread Even
Homemade Water Cooler
Keep Food Cool in Summer
A Cooler Dummy
An Outdoor Closet
Homemade Refrigerator
Iceless Butter and Milk Cooler
A Ventilated Pump Platform
Cleaning a Well
Dog Power for Pump
Filter for Cistern Water
A Handy Water Filter
Delivering Mail by Trolley
Beauty in a Barrel
Storage Bin for Vegetables
An Inexpensive Cellar
Clothesline Up and Down
A Clothes Horse
A Toilet Closet
Revolving Cellar Shelf
Water Supply for Farmhouse
Installation and Operation
Experience with Water Supply System
Warning Against Fire
Where to Hang a Fire Ladder

4. Barns and Stock
A Handy Feed Basket
Make the Horse Eat Slowly
Stalls Better than Stanchions
Good Ties for Cows
Handy Calf-feeding Device
Management of Kicking Cows
A Handy Milking Stool
The Ever Ready Stool
Cheap Milking Stool
Keep Stools Clean
A Useful Stock Cart
How to Stake out Stock
Feed Box for Field
Cheap Sheds of Straw
Feed Trough for Sheep
A Novel Feed Rack
A Wheelbarrow Sheep Trough
Packing the Fleece
Easy to Handle Heavy Hogs
Heating Water for Hog Killing
A Farm Slaughterhouse
Keep Pigs out of Feed Trough
Movable House for Breeding Sows
Well-arranged Hog Lots
Handy Pig Catcher
Stairs for the Barn
Hang Up the Lantern
Arrangement for Weighing
A Barn Windlass
Grain Box Easy to Empty
Easily Constructed Grain Bins
A Convenient Barn Truck
Takes a Man’s Place
A Handy Bag Holder
A Corn Husking Rack
A Homemade Feed Cutter
Saw Root Cutter
Homemade Cabbage Cutter
A Substantial Driveway

5. Poultry and Bees
Feeding Dry Ground Grain
Keeping the Water Clean
A Watering Rack for Hens
Drinking Fountain
Folding Chicken Roost
A Good Poultry Nest
Two Coops from a Barrel
A Box Chicken Coop
A Low Poultry Run
A Portable Chicken Coop
A Homemade Brooder
Movable Brooder House
A Very Cheap Henhouse
A Daylight Chicken Catcher
A Simple Hawk Trap
Scare Away Crows and Hawks
Practical Hives and Hive Making
Device for Extracting Beeswax
Self-feeder for Bees

6. Garden and Orchard
An Iron Hoop Trellis
Plant Supports of Barrel Hoops
A Folding Trellis
Easy Way to Pole Beans
Trellis that Stands Alone
Protecting Newly Set Plants
Making the Hotbed
Making Permanent Hotbeds
Heat for Hotbeds
Cold Frames and Their Management
A Hand Garden Cultivator
A Convenient Garden Stool
Watering Seed Soil Made Easy
Catching Owls and Hawks
Moving a Large Tree
Transplanting Trees
Homemade Fruit Picker
A Truss Ladder
Orchard Ladder on Wheels
Convenient Sorting Tables

7. Field and Wood
Portable Hay Derrick
A Wire Tightener
Fence Wire Reel
Safe Way to String Barbed Wire
A Boxed Stone Boat
A Homemade Road Roller
An Old-fashioned Drogue
A Ditching Scraper
Bridge for a Small Stream
Dam for Farm Pond
Sowing Seed Evenly
Berry Crate Carrier
Handy Loading Device
Rack for Hauling Fodder
Pulling Fence Posts
One Way to Pull Stumps
Simple Land Measure
Storing Water
Getting a Supply of Fuel
Simplest of All Camping Tents

8. Gates and Doors
Keeping a Gate from Sagging
An Easily Opened Gate
A Gate that Never Sags
A Cheap Gate
A Simple Farm Gate
An Easily Regulated Gate
Gate to Overcome Snowdrifts
A Time Saver
Keep the Gate Open
Good Bars for the Farm
Durable Floating Fence
Fence Across a Stream
Temporary Sheep Fence
Fastening Heavy Doors
Hold the Barn Doors Shut
Fastening the Stable Door
Homemade Door Latch

9. When We Build
Important Points in House Building
A Very Convenient House
Building a Block House
A Practical Round Barn
A Well-Arranged Barn
A Handy Small Barn
The Farmer’s Icehouse
Location and Building
Framing the Icehouse
Ice and Milk Houses Combined
Small Greenhouses
Material for Construction
Set Glass in Warm Weather
Covering with Hotbed Sash
Wire Fence Corn Crib
How to Lay a Floor
An Inexpensive Veranda

9. When We Build (part II)
Concrete on the Farm
Mixing the Cement
Making Concrete Blocks
To Operate the Machine
Blocks of Different Shapes
Another Style of Mold
Regulating the Height of the Blocks
Filling the Molds
Mixing Cement for Brick
Reinforcement for Concrete
Making a Frostproof Cellar
A Summer Cool Room
A Concrete Smokehouse
Laying a Concrete Floor
Making a Concrete Walk
Cementing a Cistern Wall
Special Uses for Cement
A Time-honored Handy Device

10. Worth Knowing
Freezing Ice in Blocks
Saving the Seed Corn
Rack for Seed Corn
Drying and Keeping Seed Corn
Weight Lifter
Strong and Simple Wagon Jack
A Jack for Heavy Wagons
A Cheap Wheelbarrow
A Wheelbarrow Cheap and Strong
How to Hang a Kettle
A Snow Plow
Temporary Smoking Device
Homemade Heater and Cooker
Use for a Tough Log
A Handy Wood Splitter
How to Split Wood
A Pulling Hammer
Mounting the Farm Anvil
Sorting Potatoes Quickly
Handling Potatoes Easily
Cutting Seed Potatoes
Another Seed Potato Cutter
How to Test Seed Corn
Reading the Results
Killing Insects in Grain
Binding Pins for Hay
Combined Drag and Harrow
How to Handle a Rope
Tying Some Useful Knots
Carrying a Barrel Made Easy
Harness Clamp

10. Worth Knowing (part II)
Substitute for Pipe Wrench
Market Wagon Conveniences
Carrying Butter to Town
To Sharpen Scissors
How to Paper a Room
Choose Judiciously
Paste and Tools
Trimming and Cutting
Hanging the Paper
Practical and Economical
The Farm Blacksmith Shop
Why the Shop Pays
Blacksmithing Not Hired Man’s Work
Horseshoe Lever
How to Paint Tin Roofs
Preserving Wood
To Preserve Shingles
To Render Wood Fireproof
Fireproof Wash for Shingles
Petrified Wood
How to Season Wood
Bleaching Wood
Wood Polish
Furniture Polish
Size Stains
Dark Wood Stain
Red Stain for Wood
Liquid Glue
Cement for Metal and Glass
Cement for Broken China
Cement for Crockery and Glass
Mending Glassware
Armenian Cement
Japanese Cement
Roofing Preparation
Fire Kindlers
Mending Pipes with Water On
To Join Water Pipes
Welding Metals
Grinding Tools