Presenting BostonBiker.Org
A while ago I mentioned that I have been working on a bicycle related project, well I am proud to announce the official Sietch launch of BostonBiker.org (doo do do dooooo!)
BostonBiker.org is a place for Boston area cyclists. You can sign up get your own site, swap stories, post rants, sell parts, advocate for better cycling conditions, or just hang out. It is quickly growing, and has lots of fun features. If you like to cycle, and live in Boston or around Boston I highly recommend you check it out.
It’s free, easy to sign up, and I am very open to working with anyone who wants to do something a bit more custom. Contact me if you have a special bike related project.
There is a lot of bike culture in Boston, but it is fractured into a lot of little groups. My goal is to bring them all together and create a clearing house for information, events, and stories. Boston has the potential to be a world leader in cycling, we just need to build a big enough group of people who are interested in transforming the city.
If that wasn’t enough here are some of the many fine features that you will be able to enjoy:
- Free
- Included Blog
- Static pages (can create an entire site quickly and easily)
- Monetize your site with Google Adsense
- Over 40 themes to choose from (with more coming every day)
- Free hosting for special bike projects
- Fun widgets to easily customize your sidebar without knowing any code
- Fully customizable
- Lots of cool cycling people to talk to
If you are interested in giving it a go you can sign up here. I would love your feedback, feel free to leave comments here with anything you liked/hated about the site.
Land Rover Save Planet, Stop Making Cars
Sorry about the big image, I did my best reducing it from the broadsheet newspaper advert I stumbled upon last week, but it’s got to be big, hasn’t it? Land Rover are taking out adverts in all the newspapers, they are so concerned about the planet that they’ve decided to jack it all in: yes, it’s true, Land Rover are no longer making or selling cars. No more Freelanders, no more Range Rover Sports, no more Defenders, nothing. It’s all going on the scrap heap because they have finally realised, after years of marketing vehicles that do 18 miles per gallon (that’s just over 14 MPG in North America) or even worse, that the planet is frying and they are partly to blame. So, in deference to our only reason for existing, they are giving up the motor trade.
Great!
If only it were true.
Sadly, that’s just in my dreams. In reality, Land Rover – owned by our old friends, Ford – are just splattering the pages of newspapers and magazines around the world with the same old rubbish about carbon offsetting, sustainable vehicles, new technology and, that old favourite, supporting green projects. Good old Land Rover – masters at pretending they actually care. Good old Land Rover – masters at the greatest mass-mobilisation PR campaign we are ever likely to see in our lifetimes: the motor industry going “green”.
What a load of greenwash.
Original post by keith
Monday Confessional
Bah, how bad was that state of the union. I will tell you, bad. Bush talks in circles, uses so many half truths, half lies, and outright lies. Support coal power, support nuclear power!?! What? Talk about lame duck, maybe just lame. No vision, no legacy, worst president ever. Seriously how did we ever end up with this guy as our president?
In other much better news, I am almost ready to roll out my next little web project, something that has been making me very happy as of late, and something I have been putting a lot of work into. Tomorrow I will be unveiling it, just sort of wetting the whistle now. Here is a hint, its got to do with bicycles.
Speaking of which, cycling has been more and more fun as of late. It seems that I have caught the bike bug pretty badly. I find myself using my car less and less, and not missing it at all. Not to mention the pleasing side effects of having great legs, a trim waste and feeling better than I have in a long time.
When we blunder into peek oil unprepared (thanks in no small part to our clueless leaders) the cycle will rule the road. I for one welcome our new bicycle overlords. You might as well get yourself one now, and start riding it all over the place, that way you will be ready for the switch over. Just planting seeds.
Here is a little “mini-poll” if you are an adult (over the age of 18) when was the last time you rode a bicycle?
What To Do With That Old Cell Phone
How often do you get a new cell phone? Once a year, once every two years? A better questions might be, how often does your cell phone break and require that you buy a new one (I am amazed at how poorly most cell phones are put together). If you are like the average American you go through a new cell phone about ever 1.5 years. Considering the amount of toxic metals and chemicals in each and every cell phone what do you do with it when it’s time to get a new one?
We have talked about cell phone recycling before, what I want to see is a type of phone that is built from the ground up to be durable, reusable (in the way that you can put new innards in it when it becomes old, or update the software), and biodegradable. But until that happens be sure to check out Secret Life to figure out how to recycle your cell phone.
Warm Showers: Better For Me, Better For The Environment
I’m the kind of person that fights off the cold morning chill with a scalding hot shower. However, I’ve learned that taking showers that are too hot actually cause your skin to be dryer and less healthy. In addition, although shower length is generally how carbon output is reduced, shower temperature also effects the amount of energy needed. So by dropping my shower temperature a few degrees I can not only help reduce my carbon output, but improve the health of my skin. Tricks like this, which improve quality of life while helping the environment, are my favorite kind of green living.
So how much can we save? My residence hall shower isn’t new in the least, so I can safely assume that a 10 minute shower uses about 25 gallons (200lbs) of water. Heating it to scalding, about 120 F, from 60 F takes 12000 BTU. But heating the same amount of water to just 110 F uses only 10000 BTU.
(200lb)(120-60)=12,000 BTU (200lb)(110-60)=10,000 BTU 12,000-10,000=2,000 BTU
That difference of 2000 BTU is equivalent to .586 kWh a day. As my university uses coal power, it means 1.227 lbs less carbon released each day. Over a year, that’s 447.86 lbs of carbon. Putting this in perspective, with the energy and carbon savings you could instead keep 5 10w CFLs (40w equivalent) on for 10 hours a day. All for giving up just 10 extra degrees of heat in my shower, ones I likely won’t even notice.
Now this is just one specific way to reduce the carbon impact of your shower. As I live in a residence hall it’s really the only aspect I can control, besides with the length of my showers. If I were to reduce that time by even a minute, that’s an extra .36 lbs of carbon saved per day. But if you want to do more, here are some easy tricks you might be able to use that are even easier:
-Install a low-flow shower head and use 50% less water (1.8lbs of carbon a day with a 10min shower). Also look for one with a stop valve so you can soap up without wasting water.
-get an insulating blanket for your old water heater
-turn down the heat on your water heater
-get a tankless water heater
-and for the really ambitious, install a solar hot water heating system (no more carbon guilt!)
Good luck and happy showering!!
(data for calculations found here and here)
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