Frugally Green

I need your help. My dear old computer, age 6, has begun acting up.  Truth be told, it started acting up about a year ago and I have been quietly coaxing it back into good behavior with encouraging phrases like “You can do it!” and “Don’t give up now!” as well as a lot of fiddling around with it’s innards.  In fact, I’m writing this post on it now, but will probably have to restart several times in order to finish.  It’s frustrating!

All this anguish has really ignited the “I want a new one” fire inside me.  I almost bought a brand new iMac at work the other day, getting all the way to the order confirmation page before slapping myself across the face and remembering that I should probably put some thought and planning into such a decision before getting all trigger-happy.  Buying a new computer can be a real financial burden and drain on the environment.  Maybe I just need to follow some of my own advice?

That’s when I remembered that I no longer have to make decisions like this on my own.  Since starting Frugally Green, I have gotten some really thought provoking feedback from the amazing people that have found their way here. So today, I pose my question to you, friends: What do you think is the best frugally green solution to my dilemma?

Here’s what I’ve considered already:

Repair my existing PC

Right off the bat, this seems like the least expensive and most environmentally friendly option.  I’ve exhausted my own repair knowledge, so I’d have to take it to a professional and likely be without a machine for awhile (though I could use my work laptop if I had to).  I’m hesitant to go this route, though, because a lot of the software I run is quite sluggish on this computer.  I’m afraid that if I repair it, I’ll just end up needing to buy a new one anyway before long.

Buy a cheap new PC

This is another option – just bite the bullet and pick up something new that I know won’t give me any trouble and, if it does, I’ll be all over that warranty. My old machine will be dropped off at Free Geek, allowing me all sorts of warm, fuzzy feelings when they Frankenstein it into something useful again that someone less fortunate can get some value out of.  It will also better ensure that very few, if any, bits and pieces end up in a land fill.

In this case, I’d probably make the new machine a fairly barebones system and add hardware to it as I saw necessary.  This would require little cash up front and allow me to add things that I think are important as I go. To be honest, though, I’ve recently had my eye on some Apple products, which leads me to my third option:

Buy a new (or gently used) iMac

This would bestow upon me the ultimate consumerist happiness.  I’m no drooling Mac fanatic, but I did use them throughout college and enjoyed the operating system as well as a lot of the software (except iTunes! I hate iTunes!).  I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here before, but in my spare time, I’m a home recording enthusiast.  The software I use and am very happy with is Mac only.  This wasn’t a problem before as my roommate had a Mac that I used for recording, but now he’s moving out.

I feel like buying one of these would allow me the most versatile use, but would also be the most expensive option. I’m keeping an open mind because I know that sometimes you have to spend upfront to save down the road and used Macs seem to hold their value better than PCs.  At the same time, I’m afraid I’m being influenced by aesthetics. Apple makes pretty computers and I don’t want to spend extra money just to look at something attractive (I get my fill of that from Jessie for a much better bargain).  A computer is a tool to me, not an accessory.

So I’d like your help!  I’ve thought this through myself, but I want to know how you would approach the situation. What criteria would you use to make sure you got the most for your money, everything you wanted, and were being environmentally conscious about a major electronic purchase?  I really value your opinion and want to know what you think.

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The Giving Tree is an illustrated children’s story, written by Shel Silverstein that chronicles the relationship between a boy and a tree.  In the beginning, they’re playmates – the boy climbs the tree, swings on its branches and eats apples in its shade.  They both enjoy each other’s company very much.  But the boy grows a little bit older and starts to come around less often.  This saddens the tree.  When he eventually returns he’s grown up a bit and no longer wants to play.  Instead, he wants money to “buy things and have fun.”  The tree doesn’t have money, but she is happy to let the boy harvest her apples to sell in the city.  So he does, and disappears again.

When the boy returns years later, the tree is excited and anxious to play, but the boy is a grown man now and hasn’t the time or desire to.  He wants a house so that he can find a wife and have children and raise them.  The tree cannot give the boy a house so, instead, she offers him her branches.  He cuts them and disappears.  Again the tree is sad.  When the boy returns, he is middle aged, sad, and wanting a boat that he can sail away. The tree, with no boat to give, allows him to cut down her trunk to make one.  The boy does and sails away.

When he returns once again as a very old man, the tree tells the boy she’s nothing left to give him.  The old man now says he has no need for anything else.  He’s too tired to do anything but sit.  The tree offers him a seat on her stump.  He takes it, and the two become friends again.  And the tree is happy.

I have to admit that The Giving Tree is my favorite children’s book.  I like it so much that, at one time, I considered having it’s cover illustration tattooed on my arm.  If that’s not the ultimate testament to my enjoyment, then I don’t know what is.  Maybe if I put it on my forehead?

This story silently speaks volumes about the unconditional love that can exist in a one-sided relationship while warning those that take advantage of such a relationship of the harm they inadvertently do to those who provide for them.  Looking at this story through our green goggles, it’s only fitting that the two characters happen to be a human and a tree.

Think back to the different life stages that you’ve been through. What were some of the things that you really appreciated and what did you take for granted? Can you say that you truly appreciated anything when you were just a child?  Probably not, but then again, you were too young to really take advantage of a relationship.  What about when you were a teenager?  A young adult?  Maybe you’re middle aged or even elderly now.  What has changed throughout your life regarding what and who you truly appreciate and what and who you might have taken advantage of?  As we age and aspire to new and bigger challenges, we shift our attention from one priority to the next, even though the resources and relationships that support us might not change at all.

I don’t say this to make anyone feel bad.  We’ve all been guilty at some point in our lives of taking from one relationship to give to another.  What’s really important is that we’re able to recognize when we’re doing this and make an effort to rebalance our focus.  Life is tough and we’ll never get it perfect, but just by trying we’ll allow ourselves to build stronger, balanced relationships.

From a frugally green perspective, try to think about some of the ambitions that you’ve had, or some that you have now, and consider the potential impacts that you have on various natural resources and systems as you pursue them.  Then, use that knowledge to focus on finding new, creative ways to lessen that impact.  The idea here isn’t to feel guilty or stop pursuing your goals, it’s to be aware of how they affect other people and things and then to take action on their behalf.

A personal example I can give is simply writing this blog.  Since I started Frugally Green in April, 2009 I’ve spent considerably more time sitting in front of the computer reading, writing, researching, and designing than I ever would have without this website as motivation.  As a result, my computer is using up a lot more electricity than it was before.

Realizing this, I wanted to adopt a small change in my life that I could use to offset it.  The solution I came up with?  Drive my truck less on the weekends.  Weekends are errand and chore days for me.  I go around town picking up things I put off during the week, visit friends, and run out to the farmer’s markets that Jessie sells cupcakes at.  When I realized that most of the places I go don’t require me to carry much  and that I have a perfectly functional bike, the solution was obvious.

Now, when I run to the hardware store or out to the farmer’s market, I just hop on the ol’ two wheeler and pedal off.  I still have to use the truck to pick up large items now and again, but I have significantly cut my weekend driving down – more than enough to offset the extra computer use (and it doesn’t hurt that I now spend a good chunk of my weekends huddled over a keyboard thinking of witty parentheticals to make you chuckle).

The relationships that we create with people, places and things can sometimes lead to unsustainable practices.  Lots of times, we don’t even notice because we’ve become so consumed by our pursuits.  Remember that, like the Giving Tree, the earth will provide to us all that we are willing to take from it, without making much of a fuss.  If we ignore that for too long, like the boy in our story did, we could come to the end of the line with little left to be harvested by those that will follow us.

“In every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the seventh generation.”

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Frugally Green readers are savvy about saving money and saving the planet.  They’re always on the lookout for ways to do both at the same time.  Personally, it’s one of my favorite things in life.  But I think there’s more to frugality than just saving money.  I think it’s also important to focus on making money.  Earning more money (without inflating our lifestyles) allows us to achieve financial security quicker and take our minds off of earning just to survive.  It also opens new doors to helping the environment in ways we may not have even known possible before.

Right now, the U.S. is reeling from economic recession.  Our unemployment rate is at 9.7% and that doesn’t count all the people that have simply quit looking for work.  I bet there are probably even some Frugally Green readers that have lost their jobs recently.

Maybe you’ve lost your job.  Maybe you’re bored with your current work.  Maybe you just feel stuck in a low paying job and want to earn more money.  Well, as bad as things are right now, there still seems to be momentum building in the green industry.  Where you might fit in could depend on a number of factors like your current skills, qualifications, and personal interests.  With a little bit of creativity, you might find that your current environmental interests and professional aptitude overlap in a way that could bring a meaningful change to your career. Here are a few examples of white and blue collar jobs that could transform to a shade of green with a little bit of effort and ingenuity:

Artist - Ever thought about a foray into found or environmental art?  There are some great creators out there working with the things we simply throw away as well as completely natural elements.  These great minds bring a new perspective and vibrancy to environmentalism.

Engineer - No matter what field you specialize in, there are all kinds of opportunities to use your interest in sustainability to focus on designing systems that tax our planet less and shape the way we live our lives.

Architect - Green building seems to be an ever increasing point of enthusiasm and there will likely never be a time when we stop trying to design the structures we reside in to be more efficient and healthy to occupy.

Journalist - As society continues to grow towards this seemingly “green renaissance,” it will be the work of our reporters and journalists to convey to the world all the developments taking place.  If you’re a journalist with a passion for sustainability, you might find yourself in a rather interesting niche.

Product/Packaging Designer - Consumers are starting to walk the talk with their buying choices and just about every major company out there is looking for a way to improve their products to meet these demands.  Maybe you could be the one to help them along the way?

Consultant - There are so many people and businesses out there that want to do more for the environment but either don’t feel they know how or don’t have the time.  If you’ve got some experience in coaching or advising and a knack for sustainability, there’s a career to be made helping them.

General Contractor - Architects and engineers aren’t the only ones trying to reduce the impact of our buildings on the planet.  The folks putting the pieces together have to be just as green-competent to be successful.  Many contractors and construction management companies are actively looking for environmentally conscious employees to help them build a better future. (Note: This is what I do during the daylight hours.)

Librarian - I think this would be an awesome job!  Maybe you could use your knowledge of how people interact with media and libraries to help create more accessible and user friendly online libraries?  I can envision an interesting consulting opportunity here.

Real Estate Agent - Some day when I buy a home, I’ll be looking for one that not only has the sustainable features I’m looking for, but also has the potential to easily incorporate even more.  I wouldn’t mind having an agent that was an expert at recognizing these kinds of opportunities or one that could direct me away from a potential bad fit.

Teacher – Do I even need to say much here? Schools, public and private and at every level, seem to be looking for faculty that can help train our future generations about the importance of environmental stewardship.

Taxi Driver - With all the gas consumed by the average taxi idling and sitting in stop and go traffic all day, you might see a return on investment and, subsequently a competitive advantage by switching to a hybrid model or even an all electric vehicle as they become more prevalent.

Auto Mechanic - With a little bit of specialty training, an auto mechanic could really differentiate herself as a competent technician for the hybrid and all electric market that is growing and growing.

Carpenter - Framing a house?  Why not use your passion for sustainability to sell your client on FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) certified lumber?  Maybe you’re building a piece of furniture?  There are lots of really interesting ways to incorporate reclaimed wood and repurpose other recycled materials into the design.

Electrician - An electrician might have some unique opportunities to educate his client on ways their project could use less energy and be more efficient.

Farmer - The demand for organic food keeps growing and growing.  Unfortunately, a lot of it still has to travel long distances to make it onto the shelves of your local stores.  As a farmer, you might have an opportunity to provide your community with a supply of better, locally sourced organic food.  You might consider getting started at your community’s farmer’s markets.

Technician - As demand grows and we continue to expand our renewable energy infrastructure, the need for skilled and qualified technicians and mechanics to install and service large scale wind turbine and solar power farms will grow as well.

Landscaper - A landscaper has a unique opportunity to educate his clients, whether they’re home owners or businesses, about all the work and resources required to maintain a lawn and exotic plants.  By specializing in passive landscaping with local vegetation, she could create works that compliment the local landscape  and save her clients a lot of money and effort on maintenance.

These are just some of the possibilities that I could come up with off the top of my head.  There are so many more out there.  The best way to have a really successful career is to differentiate yourself from your competition. This is something you can do as a business owner or as an employee.  It doesn’t matter.  All it takes is a little forethought and willingness to learn and continue to learn in order to stay on the leading edge of your field.

Have you had success incorporating sustainability into your career? Do you see any opportunities in other careers that I didn’t mention?  I’d love to hear about them.

Last weekend I enjoyed myself in a whole new way.  I didn’t spend a dime on entertainment (except a few tips) and only hopped in the car twice for a quick carpool.  I spent the whole day Sunday biking around SE Portland, hanging out at parks, farmers markets, and street fairs. The best part?  It was completely impromptu.

Waking up Sunday morning, I had no plan to spend the whole day out and about, let alone leave the house (yes, sometimes I’m quite the hermit).  So how did I find all these things to do on such short notice and no real plan?  I have to hand it to a local blog I frequent, PDX Pipeline, for keeping me in the loop about all sorts of less publicized things going on around town as well as a few community bloggers at The Oregonian.

I think the lesson here is that to find the small, fun and free events in your area, you really need to stay in touch with the local community.  All the big, paid admission events with sizable advertising budgets are easy to find.  They’re also full of people.  I’ve found it’s a lot easier to hang out and connect with interesting people at smaller events.  I think you let your guard down a bit more when you’re not being bombarded by other people.

Let’s dissect my Sunday escapade.  There’s likely some useful info in there that will apply where you live and can help you find free, local events to learn more about sustainability and meet interesting people.

Farmer’s Market

Every weekend I get up at the crack of dawn to help Jessie load up her car for the farmer’s market.  Sometimes I’ll tag along and sometimes I’ll just go back to bed or sit around in my underwear until I feel like greeting the day.  On Sundays, she’s pretty close by so I’ll ride my bike out to make a quick appearance, eat a cupcake and wander around. This week, my mom was in town with no bike, so we took her car.  It’s easy to spend a few hours here shopping for fresh, organic produce, talking with booth owners and market goers, and listening to the live bands that are practically obligatory for every open-air market.

I recommend anyone interested in sustainability and food spend a little time at their local farmer’s market.  Vendors are usually more than happy to chat about their farms and what they’re doing to help promote the local food movement. This weekend I had no need to buy anything, so I simply sat at one of the open tables at the center of the market and tapped my foot to the music in the air.  Drop a dollar in the open guitar case and I’m off to the next adventure.

Sunday Parkways

While driving out to the farmer’s market, I couldn’t help but notice that the police were blocking the street at a number of intersections (thinking “oh great, what’s this protest about), allowing what appeared to be a sea of bicycles to cross uninterrupted as cars backed up for blocks, waiting their turn.  As soon as we got home, I hopped on the Oregonian site to see if there was any news about it.

Sure enough, there was an article explaining that 3 times a summer, a huge swath of streets are shut down in different neighborhoods around town to allow bikers to ride around, just for fun, without the hassle of cars for a day.  The pathway normally leads to a number of different parks where people can mingle, learn about local clubs and organizations that serve the community, and, presumably, talk about bike stuff.

Awesome! I hop on the road bike I bought in 6^th grade (cue memories of the bear riding the tricycle at the circus) and head out to see what it’s all about.  Along the way, I engage other riders with thought provoking statements like, “Hey!”, and “What’s up?”

Bike Share Demonstration

While searching for info on the parkways, I happened upon another article explaining that the City of Portland was planning to implement another really cool program that we have no funding for: a bike share program!  They promised it would be different from the free program we tried in the 90s that ended with a bunch of vandalized and stolen bikes and everyone scratching their head asking, “What happened?” A demonstration of possible solutions was being held all day at a nearby park for public comment.

Turns out, there are a number of cities embracing this idea now.  Lots of places in Europe have functioning systems, Washington D.C. has a small program, one was just installed in Montreal, Denver is putting one in, and now Portland is interested again.  “Cool,” I thought, “I’ll take the Sunday Parkway down and check it out.” Synergy.

The event was much more than I expected.  I must have spent about an hour talking to representatives about their programs and how they could work in a city like ours.  There was a band playing that I sat and watched for awhile, and I made my way around the park, stopping to chat with the local clubs and programs promoting themselves at booths set up along the walkways before hopping back on the bike and heading home.  And I almost didn’t go, thinking it wouldn’t be worth the ride all the way over to the park.  Glad I took the opportunity.

Hawthorne Street Fair

Thinking that my day couldn’t possibly be filled with any more free entertainment, I rode home and hopped back on the internet to read a few blogs.  Lo and behold, PDX Pipeline kindly reminded me that the Hawthorne St. Fair was taking place all day today.  There would be more vendors, neighborhood programs, art, music, and likely a few tall bikes cruising around, pissing off drivers.

I was kind of tired, but how could I pass it up? Unfortunately, I had to abandon the bike to get my mom and Jessie over there with me, but it was a short car trip and completely worth it (it would have been better to ride the bus, but we were in a hurry to get there before it ended).

Two hours later and I had met about 15 more awesome neighborhood artists and businesses, won a button spinning a big wheel, and found a new favorite street band – The Bellboys.  Here’s a link to their myspace page.  I’m sure they could use a few new fans.

How to make (and keep making) your own frugally green weekends

Wow, what a day! Waking up I never would have imagined what it would turn into. I had lots of fun and learned about sustainability for a total of $3 that I left in tips for artists and musicians that I appreciated. Looking back, I think I picked up a few basic ideas that anyone can use to find these kinds of events and then keep finding them.  They all boil down to staying in touch with the community around you.

• Read local newspapers. They don’t come out frequently, so this is better for events you can plan ahead for.  If your city has neighborhood rags, they’ll be your best bet for finding the cool little things that slip through the cracks of the bigger publications.

• Social Media is key. For last minute ideas, city/community specific blogs are awesome for keeping you up to date.  You can also rely on friends to clue you in on sites like Twitter and Facebook.

• Don’t miss an opportunity. If you know something is going on and you’re just not sure about it, go check it out anyway.  The worst that will happen is you’ll skip it the next time it comes around.  In my case, I wasn’t expecting to run into all that I did at the park, but I’m sure glad I did.

• Sign up for email lists. If you run into something or someone you find interesting and they offer email updates, sign up!  Nobody likes spam, but my experience has always been that there is an inverse relationship between the size of an event and the amount of worthless advertising they send out.  Most of the groups you run into at these small-time events just want to let you know what they’re up to.  Lots of times they’ll even point you to other groups doing interesting things that you’ll be happy to know about.

This kind of entertainment is not exactly mainstream or conventional. It’s not as easy to find as a nightclub downtown or a movie ticket to this weeks blockbuster hit.  But you know what?  I think it’s a lot more fun.  In all my years, I can’t say I’ve ever met anyone new or interesting at the movie theater, but I probably met 20 new and interesting people just this Sunday.

What kind of free entertainment do you enjoy? How do you find (or create) it? Please join in the conversation.

Hey all you FGers,

This is just a quick little update to let you know that a guest post that I wrote for Alan Schram over at Saving for Serenity is now posted.  Alan writes a great little blog about the philosophy of finding happiness and financial independence.

The post is titled Fail to Plan or Plan to Fail?: Why We Avoid Important Decisions and discusses the tough choices that we all know we have to make, but often avoid because they make us uncomfortable.

I hope you make it over to Saving for Serenity and check it out. I’ll see you all on Wednesday with a new article about my really fun, frugal, and green weekend.

In the meantime, here’s a funny eco video:

As I’ve come to realize, there are lots of ways to support my planet while spending very little from my own wallet.  In fact, here at Frugally Green, I usually write about the ways an average person can save money or even make it while incorporating small changes into their lifestyle. The changes themselves may be small, but putting them together can really make a difference.  But what do we do when we feel like we’ve already done all the little things we can to save the planet and save some money?  What if we feel like all the “low hanging fruit” has been picked?

The simple answer is probably that we actually just need to look a little bit harder to find more opportunities.  I know that, although I’ve changed my life dramatically over the last few years, there are still plenty of simple changes I can make that just aren’t on my radar.  However, none of this should distract you from making big changes if that’s what you desire to do.

Sometimes, the big changes we want to make cost a lot of money, like installing solar panels, wind turbines, and heat pumps at our homes, upgrading to high efficiency appliances, or buying a hybrid or electric vehicle.  I’ve written about ways to save big on buying an efficient car and appliances and renewable energy, but the truth is, even if you maximize your savings, supporting new technology is expensive, and you’re going to pay more up front to do so.  This may not seem frugal, but I think it’s important to remember that frugality is all about seeing the long-term savings of a purchase.  You’ll pay a premium to outfit your home with solar panels, but the money you save on electricity, when done right, will more than pay for them through their life cycle.  This is a tenet of frugality – realizing when paying more now will save more later.

But for adults with so many other financial commitments in their life, it’s hard to find the money to make the best purchases they can.  This is why it is so important to get your financial house in order.  When you pay off your debt, spend less than you earn, and save for the long term, it becomes substantially easier to find the money you need to make these kinds of long-term purchases.  It’s like a snowball rolling down a hill – the more it rolls, the bigger it gets.

When I decided to really change how I handled my money, there were a few basic things I did that yielded the biggest immediate gains for me:

• I paid off my debt – Luckily, I didn’t have much at all, but getting rid of it was a huge relief that allowed me focus on more important things, like…

• Tracking my spending – This was easy to do by setting up an account at Mint.  Once a week or so I would go look at where my money went.  Sometimes I felt really good about the things I’d bought, and sometimes I felt awful.  After a few months of just seeing what I spent my money on I…

• Set up a budget - I picked out the major items that I regularly spent the most of my discretionary money on and slowly started to budget a little bit less for them each month until I felt like I had gotten lean enough.  Once I had a good idea of what I was spending my money on and a plan for keeping myself within a few limits, I was able to…

• Pay myself first – This is a very recent development that I am still trying to perfect.  Now that I know where my money goes each month, I’ve decided to automatically start saving a part of each paycheck that I receive.  Before, I would just save whatever was left over at the end of each month but now I am able to declare that I will save “xxx” dollars every month and know that it will be available.

Will following this exact plan work for you?  It might or it might not.  You may notice that I didn’t ever have much debt.  I understand that this is a much bigger problem for many people, but I cannot write effectively on it because I have not experienced it and trying to tell you how to fix a problem when I have no understanding of what it’s like or how it feels to be in that situation would not be helpful to you.  If you’re looking to improve your finances and have a lot of debt, start here with JD over at Get Rich Slowly.  His story is an inspiration, and if you like what you read, he has years of archives for you to comb through. Trent over at The Simple Dollar has a similar story.

Whether you follow the same path I did or create one for yourself, I think you’ll find that when you take the time to really look at your finances and make a plan that you can live by, you will be a lot more connected to how you are spending your life’s resources.  This can lead to very gratifying feelings of security and self awareness.

So to bring the focus back to being frugally green, I’m excited to say that my next big step in connecting my own personal finance with sustainability will be to start a new savings goal for green ventures.  I can’t say yet how much I’ll save or even what it will specifically be for, but I want to get started now rather than later.  So much about success directly relates to simply starting something. I will begin by adding another sub-account to my ING savings where I am saving towards other financial goals:

What can I say?  I like to give my accounts silly nicknames.  It makes saving more fun for me.  If this is something that interests you, you can read all about how to open multiple accounts at ING. Once you’ve got that figured out, you can watch Ramit Sethi’s video on how to automate your finances.

Big changes take big commitments to make, but as you can see, the “big” financial change I am trying to make is a result of lots of smaller ones.  It’s the constant daily focus on small, but important tasks that lead to the big, life-affirming changes.  It’s rare that someone with any amount of success wakes up one morning and wonders how they got to where they are.  They know exactly how they arrived because they spent years, focused every day, on getting there.

I’m curious to know more about the financial state of my readers.  I don’t need to know how much money you have, but I would love to know more about how you approach your finances.  What kind of goals do you have for your money and what has driven you to make them happen?  Please feel free to discuss in the comments or, if you consider this information personal, but would still like to share with me, you can send me an email.  I’ll never share your personal information without your permission.

We recently hired a new employee at work to be our sustainability engineer, and to all of our benefit, she brought with her a whole stack of books about sustainable construction, architecture, and life at home to assemble a “Green Library” in our office.  Perusing through it the other day, one title in particular caught my eye – Homebrew Wind Power: A Hands-on Guide to Harnessing the Wind.  I was excited.  One of my long-term goals in life is to make my home carbon neutral and entirely off the grid.  I’m still a renter, and to be honest, I may never live somewhere where wind power would be feasible to employ, but I’m always interested in learning something new when it comes to sustainable do-it-yourself projects.  So I checked it out and spent a few minutes reading each night before bed.

Homebrew Wind Power, authored by Dan Bartmann & Dan Fink, leads you step by step through the process of building your own wind turbine as part of a renewable energy system. The Dans live entirely off the grid in a small community in the Colorado Rockies and have devoted a huge chunk of their lives to building and testing wind turbines made from easily obtained materials.  For an instructional manual, I was fairly impressed with the friendly, conversational tone that they kept throughout the course of the book.  The dog and cat haikus that are sporadically placed throughout the text are especially fun (you can tell how much they love their pets):

Nap under turbine
Blades spin, but no birds are killed
I was so hungry…

The book is basically divided into three sections which provide a comprehensive review of what you’ll need to know in order to take on a project like this.

1. Intro to renewable energy and wind turbines

In the beginning, the Dans give a run down of how a renewable energy system works, particularly with a windmill, from the turbine itself to all the bits and pieces that make a complete system function like inverters, battery banks, meters, and controllers.  I was happy to see that they also spent a bit of time making sure their readers understand the importance of energy conservation – adding a windmill to your property won’t make a lot of sense if you’re wasting all of the electricity it produces!  They even include a section on shop safety.  There are a few safety concerns specific to wind turbine building and the Dans hammer them into your head over and over again.  While it gets a bit tiring after awhile, I appreciate it.  They don’t want you pinching your fingers between any magnets, and neither do I.

Most importantly, this section helps you to decide if you have a feasible site for a wind turbine.   You need to know your area’s average wind speed (a complicated measurement to make), the height of obstacles around your site, as well as a host of other things when deciding if a wind turbine should be in your renewable energy future.

2. Assembling a homebrew wind turbine

The second part of the book moves into the meat of the topic, assembling the big, sexy machine.  If you’ve decided that you just can’t help but take on such a cool project, this is where you will learn, step by step, how to build and erect your turbine. Though it’s certainly no small feat, Dan & Dan do a pretty good job of holding your hand along the way.  Each chapter is dedicated to one bite size piece of the turbine.  You get a full list of tools and supplies you’ll need as well as suggestions on where to find any special materials.  Almost every major step of the process is documented with photos and very descriptive text.  Oftentimes, sidebars populate the pages to highlight any tips and tricks you might be interested in using to customize your turbine or to make it even more efficient.

3. Resources for researching your project

If, after careful consideration, you decide that a wind turbine will be a beneficial addition to your renewable energy system, this section is full of tables, charts, and graphs to help you size and place your windmill.  Homebrew Wind Power focuses solely on the construction of a 10 foot wind turbine (wingspan of blades).  This section, while much less robust than the rest of the book, offers help to any reader that decides that another size of turbine is a best fit for them by focusing on what will need to be done in order to scale the system up or down to fit more specific needs.

Is a homebrew wind turbine for me?

The honest answer to this question, unfortunately, is probably not.  Wind turbines are relatively simple machines, but the environment in which they can be successfully implemented is rather specific.

• Does your area have an average wind speed of at least 10 mph?
• Do you have a site on your property where you can feasibly get the machine 30 feet above any obstacle within 300 feet?  If for some reason your tower fails, will it fall entirely on your property?
• Are you already doing everything you can to reduce your energy use?

If you can answer yes to all of these questions, then a homebrew wind turbine might be very beneficial to you.  If you can’t, it’s likely any machine you choose to erect will never be able to produce enough power to make a sizable dent in your home’s electricity needs. Most folks fall into the latter category.

One other incredibly important thing to consider when deciding if a wind turbine is for you is that using this windmill at a dwelling that is connected to grid power will add some considerable expense to the overall project.  The authors didn’t do the best job of explaining how much their system would cost to build, but from what I could gather, if you don’t currently have any renewable energy infrastructure at your home currently, you should plan to spend somewhere between $8,000 – $10,000. If you do, your costs will probably be closer to $5,000.  Consider that the average American Household uses around 9oo kwh each month and the turbine you build will only produce around 160 kwh per month at an average wind speed of 10 mph (this number grows exponentially as wind speed increases).

Looking at all this, you’re likely to believe that a homebrew wind turbine is not for you and you are probably right.  However, I will say that, if you like DIY projects and are interested in renewable energy, this book is a really fun read.  The authors are friendly and very honest about who their system will help and how much.  The dog and cat haikus also add a few chuckles along the way.  Even if you can’t utilize the information in the book, I feel good recommending it to anyone with an inquisitive mind interested in sustainable energy.

Your water heater is one of the most important appliances in your home.  Without it, you’d be taking cold showers, washing your hands with cold water, and your dishwasher would have a rather hard time cleaning all those soiled dinner plates.  To keep your life as convenient as possible, your water heater is working really hard to make sure you have all the hot water you need on a daily basis.  However, in doing so, it’s also using up quite a lot of electricity.  In fact, the only thing in your house using more is likely your refrigerator.

At  an average $0.11 per kWh for electricity, the average American family spends around $1.30 per day for their hot water needs.  This equates to $475 every year.  If you could improve the efficiency of your water heater by just 25% (a very attainable goal), you could save $125 every year.  Below are 5  simple things that you can do to reduce your water heater’s electricity usage.

• Turn down the thermostat - Your water heater’s thermostat will probably allow you to turn the temperature up to around 160°, but you shouldn’t if you want to save energy.  Most people find that they can get by just fine with their thermostat set to 120° -- above that and you’re just paying for water that will serve little purpose but to scald you when you turn a faucet on too hot.

• Insulate the hot water pipe - No, you don’t need to undergo any renovation to do this.  Most of the heat that is lost in transmission from the tank to your faucet occurs in the first 6 feet of pipe leaving the water heater.  If you look at yours, you’ll probably find that there is at least 3 feet of exposed pipe that you can insulate.  This can make a big difference.  Any hardware store will carry the insulation you need.  Just be sure to measure the diameter of the pipe before you buy to ensure a snug fit.  Identifying the hot water pipe is really easy, too.  Just feel all of them.  Only one will be hot to the touch.

• Put a jacket on it - Do you get cold in the winter?  Well, so does your water heater! By insulating the whole unit with a water heater jacket, you will improve your water heater’s efficiency by keeping the water it has already heated hot.  When exposed to prolonged cold conditions, the heating element in your unit will have to stay on much more often in order to keep your water hot.  Your local hardware store probably carries one or two that you can choose from.  Here’s one available from Amazon.

• Clean it out - Over time, sediment and deposits build up in the tank of your water heater, forcing it to work harder and harder to deliver the same performance.  You can eliminate this problem by occasionally cleaning your tank out.  It’s not that difficult and you only need to do it about once a year to really benefit.  Just shut down all power to the unit, connect a garden hose to the emptying spigot and find a safe place to dump the water out.  That’s really all there is to it.  The video below gives an in depth explanation of how to do this safely and effectively for a gas water heater. For an electric one, just make sure you trip the breaker for it at the electrical panel.  Check it out:

• Reduce hot water consumption -- The best way to reduce your water heating bill is to simply use less hot water.  Take shorter showers.  Use an efficient dishwasher -- some newer models have a heater built in for on-demand use. Wash your clothes in cold water -- hot water is rarely needed to clean clothes these days with advanced detergents we have access to.  Use less, spend less.  It’s not the easiest concept to master, but it’s still the best.

If you’re extra ambitious:

• Install a solar water heater -- This tip will cost the most to implement ($1000-$3500), but is a fantastic way to substantially reduce your electric water heating needs (well beyond the 25% we were aiming for).  Don’t be put off by the price. You may be eligible for a number tax credits and rebates for installing a system like this.

There, you now have, on average, $125 a year to do something constructive with: put it in your emergency fund, use it to save towards another goal, or donate it to a worthy cause. The best part about these tips are that they all cost nothing or very little to implement.  With the exception of the solar water heater, the materials you buy to implement the other 5 tips will pay for themselves within about 4 months.

Be sure to share any other hot water saving tips you might have up your sleeve!