Solar Revolutionizes the Camping Experience

If you went camping lately you might have some inconveniences of the trip still lingering in your mind. Sure, a lot of us love camping for that experience - cooking on an open fire, reading in your tent after dark with a flashlight, and other pleasant oddities. Design has its ways of affecting all areas of life, camping included. Great design has been reshaping camping as we know it and inspiring city dwellers to get out and play without leaving all the conveniences of home.

The new Orange Solar Concept Tent will someday make your camping trip a lot more comfortable. Although the unknown price tag might make it inaccessible to the average camper, it is a great idea nonetheless. By weaving solar threads into conventional fabric, the solar tent will gather energy throughout the day and provide a variety of ways to use that energy. How about some heat from the tent's groundsheet? A charging pouch for mobile phones and other devices? Care for some light in the evening hours of camping? A modern camping experience to say the least.

Another camping convenience that is already available on the market is the Hot Pot Simple Solar Cooker. With some help from the sun, cook or heat your favorite meals without the need for electricity. All you need to do is set it up in full sunlight and within an hour you'll have an oven to use for up to 6 hours. Hey, who needs to go camping, you can do this right in your backyard! It comes with a 5.3 quart enameled steel pot for all your cooking needs. At a temperature of 350 - 400 degrees you can make stews, bake anything to your liking, or heat up previously cooked food. Great news for those of you living off grid - such a handy invention!

On a side note, if you are going camping, I highly recommend investing a few bucks in Bug Bam, read my full review of it here!

Ergonomics at Your Desk

We all know that feeling - when you sit at your work desk all day and then by evening you feel so sore like you've been loading coal onto a truck with a shovel. Ergonomics at your home or work office are very important, not just for your physical health but emotional well being. There are many solutions out there to fight back ache and muscle fatigue, many companies design ergonomic chairs that cost a fortune, some more than others.

One of these devices stands apart from the rest, it is not really a chair, the BalanceBall chair is a revolution in office and home furniture. The patented design combines fitness with comfort and ergonomic back support, all at an affordable price. With chiropractic pioneer Dr. Randy Weinzoff, Gaiam developed the BalanceBall Chair as an effective tool for strengthening core muscles and improving spinal alignment - both at home and at the office. Removable 52 centimeter BalanceBall can be used for exercises on or off the chair. The BalanceBall Chair is on sale at Gaiam at the price of $79.98, plus get free shipping on orders of $49 or more - just use code AFSHP6 (expires 6.30.09)!



If you are looking for some back support in your well loved office chair, this vibrating back support might be just the thing you are looking for:

House OKs 6.4 Billion to Make Schools Greener

Here is an article that was reprinted by USGBC about the greening of public schools (originally published on May 14, 2009, CNNPolitics.com, Ed Hornick author). Finally, something good for the schools:

Rachel Gutter, of the U.S. Green Building Council, says the benefits of an eco-friendly school will pay off economically.

"The typical green school saves $100,000 a year on direct operating expenses. In school terms, that's enough to hire two new teachers, purchase 200 new computers or 5,000 textbooks," Gutter said.

"So these are major savings. And that's just one year. The typical school lasts 40 years. And when you do the math, it starts to become some serious savings. ... It pays for itself after a few years of operation."

The council, on its Web site, lists several benefits of green buildings, such as improving air and water quality, conserving natural resources, reducing operating costs and improving employee productivity.

But Gutter says that part of the concern over green schools is the fear over construction costs.

"The research shows the greatest barrier to getting more green schools built is the perception that they cost more up front to build," she said. "The fact of the matter is that they don't. ... Building green doesn't have to cost more, and then everything else, all the savings over the lifetime, are just savings you get to put back in your community's pocket."

The legislation, if signed into law, would also help to create new jobs -- around 136,000 positions, according to calculations by the Economic Policy Institute.

But much more is at stake, Gutter says.

"It's about raising a new generation of leaders who inevitably are going to inherit the problems we will leave behind," she said. "So when you're actually able to use the school itself as a teaching tool, as an opportunity for learning, that's when the connections with curriculum really start to happen."

Read entire article here.

Pompanoosuc Mills 2009 Tent Sale

Don't miss this years Pompanoosuc Mills Tent Sale on May 23, 24, and 25 in East Thetford, Vermont! This is a great opportunity to acquire heirloom quality wood furniture at unbeatable prices. All floor samples and new design prototypes will be at savings from 35 to 50%.

Check out the Schedule of Events!

Babcock Ranch: Solar and Green Design of the Future

If everything goes according to plan, soon Babcock Ranch in Florida will be the archetype for solar and green design of the present. In essence it will incorporate everything I write about on this blog in regard to sustainability, including photovoltaics, water conservation, daylighting, and energy savings. It sets a precedent for Eco-friendly urban design, one that will not be easy to live up to. It will take about 25 years to complete and will probably be the greenest city around - literally, over half of the 17,608 acre city is alotted to greenspace such as parks, trails, and nature preserves. Even city rooftops will be 'green roofs' with vegetation to minimize cooling costs.

The city will be powered entirely by renewable solar energy. It will have the largest on-site solar plant in the world that will cost over $300 million. Electric vehicles will be charged at stations powered by the sun, and traffic will be eliminated thanks to the extensive system of pathways for alternative transportation, i.e. walking, biking, rollerblading, etc. No existing city would ever be able to retrofit to such high standards because the design is completed from the ground up taking into consideration all minute details before the site plan is even done.

While in my opinion 'green' and 'city' is an oxymoron, I've got to give them some credit for making a city - the epitome of consumerism and over spending, more sustainable. I still think it is 'greener' to live off-grid (solar and/or wind) in a rural area, raise and grow your own food, and collect rain water. Babcock Ranch is just a great attempt at taking the comfortable consumerism lifestyle and subtracting the guilt that some don't even feel while living like billions of others in the average city. It will be a great place for those who like city life but want to go 'green', which is impossible in any of today's cities.

To appreciate everything this city will have to offer you have to visit their outstanding website, the in-depth interactive presentation will answer all your questions and will leave just one - how can I get a place there?

The Age of Stupid Premier

The Age of Stupid opens in theaters in the UK today. If you haven't heard of it yet, here is what it is:

"The Age of Stupid is a 90-minute film about climate change, set in the future, which will have its world premiere in London on March 15th 2009 and then be released in UK cinemas on March 20th 2009, followed by other countries.

Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, Brassed Off) stars as a man living alone in the devasted world of 2055, looking back at “archive” footage from 2007 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?"

The movie premiers in the US in April if it does well in its initial weeks in the UK. It is shot on site in America, UK, India, Nigeria, Iraq, Jordan, and The Alps. The whole movie was funded by selling shares to individuals and groups, therefore being completely independent.Here are some quotes from the movie:

“How the heck are we meant to persuade people in India and China to develop in a more sustainable way when we’re not even prepared to accept the odd windfarm in the landscape?”

“Throughout our history, the deal was we left the world in a slightly better place than we found it. That was progress. The wheel, the rule of law, penicillin. It was our covenant with our children and grandchildren.”

“It’s strange, watching these film fragments [looking at 2007 footage in 2055]. It’s like looking through binoculars observing people on a far off beach. Running around in circles, fixated on the small area of sand beneath their feet, as a tsunami races towards them."

Since it is dubbed as "The first successful dramatization of climate change to reach the big screen," it should be on every Eco-conscious individual's 'to watch' list.

The Age of Stupid: final trailer Feb 2009, (bleeped) from Age of Stupid on Vimeo.

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