Sustainable Urban Homestead » In The News

Environmental Impact of Computing: Good or Bad??

SimpleLivingbyChoice — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 11:46:50 +0000

Take a Sec... Share with your Friends!!

I'm a fan of Earth2Tech.com and have been a subscriber for a long time now. While goign through my reader Friday night I was struck by the post "Graphic: The Environmental Impact of Computing". Being in the IT industry for almost 10yrs, this graphic really took me by surprise.

It's funny, I work in the IT world by day and homesteading/renewable energy by night/weekend.. ok every free chance I can away from work. So I have some mixed feelings about technology and computing. I feel although the article and following graphic is interestingly gloom, computing and technology has many upsides and has helped the environment in many ways. I for one used to commute daily and now work from home, used to get the paper daily and now read online (same for books, sales flyers etc...), used to get all my statements by mail which means paper, manufacturing, transportation etc.. now all done online. I could go into more examples but you get the point. I would love to see the source data behind the graph and also have the same company (InfoGraphicWorld.com) create the same type of graph with the benefits of computing/computers. Wonder how they would compare? What do you think... good or bad? Check it out yourself:

New Magazine: Urban Farm

SimpleLivingbyChoice — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:02:04 +0000

Take a Sec... Share with your Friends!!

While browsing my local Chapters store, I was delighted to see a new magazine: Urban Farm. Flipping through the premiere issue I decided to pick it up along with my copy of Home Power. The Urban Homestead movement is definitely picking up which is exemplified by a dedicated magazine.

Urban Farm magazine comes from the editors of Hobby Farms with a focus on those of us who live in the City and/or Suburbs. Filled with DIY and articles about raising chickens, goats and bees, along with gardening, composting, raised beds and recipes... there is something for everyone.

My favorite article in this premiere edition was "The Sustainable Live" by Lynda King. The article is a great list of ways we can all do our part, large or small, to get on the path of living a more sustainable life in our (sub) urban environments. You don't need an acre of land to start a raised bed garden, compost, power conservation, support local farmers and such. The best message of the article is to "Start Small"... you don't need to change everything at once which is overwhelming. Pick an area that is close to your heart and start there... nuf said!

Another of my favorites is "Beekeeping in the 'Burbs" by Susan M. Brackney. This is a great introductory article for those of us who are facinated by the option of beekeeping and definately got my attention to do more research. I've always been interested in beekeeping and do plan on introducing this to our homestead within the next 2 years. We have a few other projects and many more hours of research on the subject before then.

There are many other great articles and DIY projects like self-irrigating planters, turning lawn to garden, recycling, composting, community gardens, etc... If the editors keep each issue packed with this much great info, it will be a must have for any (sub) urban farmer out there.

Obviously i loved it... check it out... what do you think?Similar Posts:

Post from: Sustainable Urban Homestead

New Magazine: Urban Farm

Kent Hills Wind Farm: Turbine Catches Fire

SimpleLivingbyChoice — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:25:08 +0000

Take a Sec... Share with your Friends!!

On Saturday morning, one of the 32 wind turbines that makes up the Kent Hills Wind Farm in South Eastern New Brunswick. This wind farm is about 30 minutes from my house! I unfortunately didn't get to see it as we were spending the weekend at my parents house, but you could see the smoke from high vantage points in Moncton.

The turbines are Vestas V90 3MW units on 80 meter towers with 45 meter blades with an estimated cost of just over 4 million dollars... ouch!

It must have been something to see. Investigators are still looking into the root cause and Vestas will have a team onsite today (Monday).

Local news article courtesy of Moncton Times & Transcript: Turbine catches fire

**Update**
Nice YouTube video courtesy of Newschaser