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Wag More, Bark Less

I’ve never really been a Woody Allen fan. But I saw the first Woody Allen movie that I liked the other evening. Midnight in Paris was a splendid movie. Entertaining, creative, fresh. Overall, very well done. The main character Gil (played by Owen Wilson), travels through time and meets various famous artists and writers. So what does that have to do with wagging more and barking less?

Gil is dissatisfied with his life. He feels if he could just live in another time, the past, his life would be better. Nostalgia trumps the reality of the here and now. Gil learns that what we do with our present is what matters. And here’s where wagging and barking come into play. Culturally, it seems like we are longing for “the good old days” (whatever and whenever THOSE were) and that today is tragic. The economy is in shambles, unemployment is high, Congress is inept, gas prices are high, etc.

What we fail to see is what’s good in our culture and our lives. As Americans, we are pretty close to being “the 1%” if we look at our lives in a global context. Most of us have a roof over our heads, food on our tables and usually a car in the garage (sometimes two or three). I know some who don’t, but by and large, we as Americans are pretty darned blessed. Even the poorer members of our society are not too bad off compared to many people in the world today.

Yet we focus on what isn’t going right. Or at least what we think isn’t going right. But guess what? The economy really isn’t in shambles, unemployment is improving, Congress will probably always be inept in one form or another and gas prices have been going up and up since I got my first car in 1973 and regular was 29¢ a gallon. When gas hit a staggering 50¢ a gallon (gasp), I bought a more fuel-efficient car. And life goes on. I still have a car. Which puts me in the top 10% of people in the world, since over 90% of the people in the world don’t own a car.

So instead of focusing solely on what’s wrong with our world, maybe we should focus on what’s right with our world and our culture. Because there really is a lot to be grateful for and appreciate. Stop barking and start wagging. It’s good for our health, it’s even suggested in scripture and it makes all of us much more pleasant people.

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Kampuchea 2011

My wife and I recently returned from a week and a half trip to Cambodia. We went with a team from our church to work on helping to build a church in a village near Takeo as well as paint at a school near the same village.

While there, we accomplished quite a lot for 13 people, but the work was back-breaking (the building project) and tedious (the painting project.) During our few days working, we found ourselves saying things like “all we really need is a back hoe” or “an air compressor and paint sprayer would sure make this go faster and easier.”

Yet a simple comment from the missionary we know there gave me pause and created some contemplation. His remark was “Yes, but with that, you’d probably have just put about 5 or 6 Cambodian people out of work.” As I thought about that, I thought about my desire to live a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle.

Maybe all our time-saving devices aren’t necessarily the best things for us. Things like styrofoam cups are easy, disposable and cheap. But a glass cup is more durable and better for the environment (even if we have to wash it each time.) Disposable diapers are easy, but are clogging up landfills. What would happen in our society if we went back to returnable, washable milk bottles? We’d create (or restore) a whole segment of industry that we’ve lost.

And I think we’d restore some of the relational connections that we’ve lost with technology. We Facebook our friends, but how often do we actually meet them in person for coffee? Or lunch? Or dinner?

As my team in Cambodia was painting shutters, we had some very wonderful times of conversation. Talking, philosophizing, getting to know each other better. Did it take longer? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

Maybe as we live our lives, we should consider the face-to-face relational things more. Seems like it would help us politically in our Country (that’s a whole other post…) as well as with our desire to live a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle. I encourage you as you Facebook that friend, to see if they want to get together for coffee. Live. In person.

I think you’ll be glad you did.

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Zero Waste and the Johnsons

I came across this video at JetsonGreen and just had to share it.

I first heard of the Johnsons via a friend sharing the link to her zero waste home blog and was intrigued by Bea’s take on the three Rs. Before you ever get to reduce, reuse or recycle, you should refuse, refuse, refuse. This is a concept I can completely support. I’ve often shared how we are such a consumer-driven society that we buy, buy, buy and really need to be stepping back and evaluating our lifestyles. That’s part of what I’ve tried to share here at thesimpleHOUSE.

I’m encouraged and humbled by the Bea and Scott. This gives me even more to strive for.

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Project Homeless Connect and Perspective

Saint Patrick’s Day, 2011. The day of the fifth annual Project Homeless Connect (PHC) in Lane County, Oregon. Simply “ordinary people finding extraordinary solutions to end homelessness.”

If you’re wondering here what aspect of living a simple, sustainable lifestyle this addresses, it falls squarely into the triple bottom line leg of social equity. This was the third year my wife and I helped. She helped with greeting and I was a restroom monitor (more on that later).

So what, exactly, is PHC?

“In any given night in Lane County, over 3,467 people are homeless or living in temporary shelters. 11,513 individuals in 9,134 households were homeless and received services from our local continuum of care last year. Hundreds more families are “hidden away” moving between family and friends, living in cars or facing imminent threat of eviction. It is difficult for people to feel safe, access health care or mental health treatment, find and maintain a job, resolve legal problems or keep their children in school while trying to manage their housing crisis or keep their families sheltered. People who are homeless struggle daily with the repercussions of unmet basic human needs for safety, stability and shelter.

Project Homeless Connect is a nationwide movement to increase access to services for homeless people and to engage local communities in finding a solution for homelessness. By convening a one-day, “one-stop shop” event, Project Homeless Connect offers assistance with housing, health care, legal issues, benefits enrollment, treatment and other basic needs to people who are homeless.”

This year, over 850 volunteers from our community served right at 1,600 guests. Homeless, near homeless people at risk. I love the restroom monitor slot. The first year I signed us up, we procrastinated and the only available slots were restroom monitors. My wife’s first reaction was something like, “you signed us up for what?” But we served and in doing that, we discovered that the people coming to the event were so respectful of the facility and the volunteers, that restroom monitor really meant hang out in the lobby and chat with people (and occasionally check on the restrooms).

And that’s where our perspective shifted. We met some fascinating people. Today, I met a man in a wheelchair with a service dog named Mr. Ed. I remember the Mr. Ed TV show. And so did he. Perspective.

Then there was Robert, who just needed help carrying his large trash bag of stuff and backpack to the bag check area. Robert walked slowly and haltingly with a cane. The bag check was at the other end of the lobby. I apologized for having to make him walk all the way across the lobby. His response? “It’s good exercise.” Perspective.

Or Matthew, who needed help for his diabetes because he needed insulin and his feet were going numb. Or James who simply wanted a sleeping bag.

It’s opportunities like this that encourage me to live with less stuff. I mean, how many shirts do I need? Simple, sustainable lifestyle. I met Doug, who helps with the Egan Warming Centers in our town. And I was reminded of Mary S. who I wrote about a while back. And I thought I need to volunteer there, too. Perspective.

Then I went through a fast food drive thru for my lunch, they messed up my order and I had to wait while they redid it, apologizing all over themselves. And I was able to say, “No problem. Really.” Perspective. After all, I had money to buy a burger and fries and a car to go through the drive thru and I could eat and not be hungry.

I can’t wait for Project Homeless Connect 2012.

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The Lawrence Street House – Bidding and LEED

I know it’s been a little while since I gave you all an update on the Lawrence House. With the holidays, I took a bit longer finishing the drawings and we really didn’t want to have to be doing open houses during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. Open Houses are actually kind of a pain. Clean the house, keep it spotless, etc. for a two to three hour window on a Sunday afternoon. So we rested that for a while.

BIDDING
I also got the drawings done and ready to go out to bid. Based on my original budget, we had our present house priced at where we needed to be for a little negotiation and be able to go straight across. Part of the triple bottom line (the three “E’s” of sustainability) is economy and we didn’t want to end up with a mortgage when it’s all said and done.

But I’ve been getting preliminary bids back and they are actually coming in under my original budget (which, frankly, was pretty generous). So now we’re starting to get pretty excited. This may actually happen! We’re also currently at 5kw for the solar and are considering 6kw. We have room on the roof and believe it’s the right thing to do.

LEED
We had our first official LEED preliminary rating meeting Friday. This is where we sat down with Eli, our LEED rater, our landscape architect and our mechanical contractor. We’ve already done the design charrette and this is to make sure the major players understand the ground rules for LEED and also what we expect. Third party verification requires some stringent guidelines and we want to do it right from from the beginning. We should easily make Platinum on each house.

We discussed the mechanical systems and how they needed to be designed and installed. The way we are insulating our house, we are foaming the tops of the roof rafters so the heat pump indoor units and the ductwork will be within the conditioned space. That way we don’t have to insulate the ducts and it also makes the system run much more efficiently. We’ll still seal the ducts (the major area of mechanical system inefficiencies) and everything will be ceiling-fed.

We’re thinking the cottage will use a mini-split unit, or ductless heat pump. This is much more efficient, especially in a 776 sq ft house. The main house will have a conventional heat pump, but just a very high efficiency one.

Our landscaping is all low irrigation demand. We discussed at length eco lawn versus regular turf versus synthetic turf. We have just about 3% lawn area, but LEED, to maximize the points, doesn’t allow irrigation or mowing, otherwise you lose those two points. I’ve said all along we won’t chase points, but this is an area we want to be sure we do it right and also have something we will enjoy. An eco lawn in the location we have this might not be what we want. Our landscape architect suggested a synthetic lawn (I know, my first thought is “Astro-Turf“). We are going to go look at one here in town, but I’m skeptical about it. The term “Fake Lawn” is what comes off my lips. I’ll keep you posted.

SUMMARY
So that’s where we’re at. I’m hopeful we’ll have the bids come in well and we can get this house sold and start building. The prime building season in Eugene (March – September) is fast approaching.

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Van Jones and Green Jobs

Van Jones was appointed by President Obama early in his presidency. After a short six months as Special Advisor for Green Jobs in the Obama Administration, amid controversy over several issues, Jones resigned. My wife and I had the privilege of hearing Jones speak Monday night at the University of Oregon in the EMU Ballroom.

Jones is an engaging speaker, expressive and animated. But beyond that, the guy is simply smart. Actually, he’s wise. I make a distinction between smart and wise. Smart is the head knowledge that fills up your brain; wise is applying that head knowledge in practical, useful, helpful ways. And when it comes to all aspects of the triple bottom line (environment, economy and equity), Jones is definitely wise.

His lecture was titled “Beyond Green Jobs: the Next American Economy” and was presented as part of the University’s Humanities Center Tzedek lectures. As I have reflected on his talk, I’ve been trying to think what tidbit of something he said should be the focus of this post. That’s difficult. He touched on many topics across the spectrum of politics, the environment, social justice and economics. And I think the challenge I’m having distilling his talk down to one (or a few) talking points is the same challenge I had with my seminar at the Good Earth Home Show titled “Lifestyle of the Simple and Sustainable.” And that is: everything is connected. And because everything is connected, a linear thought process simply falls short.

So Jones’ talk, while it touched on many topics (Hurricane Katrina, politics, social justice, economics, the BP oil spill and his dad putting himself and several relatives including Jones through college), it was all connected. Because life and culture are all connected.

But I guess if I had to single out just one thought from Jones’ talk, it would be the concept that we have built our energy economy on death. Oil is dead dinosaurs. Coal is dead plant material. So we drill and dig (or blow up mountaintops) dead stuff to burn it for fuel and create even more death through pollution, illnesses, greenhouse gases, etc. Instead, we should be looking to the sun and renewable energy sources and the life they give (plant life, animal life, human life) and capture that through solar energy and wind power for starters. And I suppose that is what was so profound to me from Jones’ talk Monday. It’s profound because it’s so simple. Life? Or death?

I wonder what would happen in our neighborhoods, our regions, our world if we looked at everything through the lens of life rather than the lens of death? If we looked at every action, every process, every political decision, every social decision, every environmental decision through that filter, as cliché as this might sound, the world would truly be a much better place. It would benefit our environment, it would benefit our social equity and it would benefit our economy. Let’s start.

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Good Earth Home Show 2011

This was the second year, we were at the Good Earth Home Garden and Living Show. My architectural firm, Arbor South Architecture had a booth last year and we did it again this year.

This was also the second year we did a seminar. In 2010, we talked about our award-winning LEED Platinum home, theSAGE. This year, I was asked to speak again as part of an Architect focus. By the time I was asked, the topics of building a smaller house, energy efficiency (specifically via the Passivhaus concept) and why to hire an Architect were already taken. So I thought I’d share some of my thoughts that I’ve been sharing with you all here on my blog.

So if you attended the seminar today and enjoyed it, thank you; I enjoyed presenting it. I know the topics were a bit circular and not linear, but as I mentioned, everything is connected. And when everything is connected, it’s very hard to go in a straight line. This affects that and so on. But it’s rewarding to realize how one thing we do can affect another, which in turn can affect yet another. It kind of makes the shift in our paradigm and lifestyle choices all worth it.

I appreciated your questions and comments today. I do welcome your comments on the seminar. What you liked and even what you didn’t like. I also encourage your suggestions on what I should talk about next. Topic ideas are always helpful. For those who are interested, Click Here for my Front Porch article.

Thank you for allowing me to present you with a “shameless plug” for this blog. And again, thanks again for attending!

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Will We Ever REALLY get an EV?

Well, the Detroit Auto Show started Sunday. The Chevrolet Volt was just named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year for 2011. And I’m getting really really cynical. I know the picture for this post isn’t a Chevy Volt. But more on that a little later.

When I was a teenager, I subscribed to Motor Trend. I loved looking at the latest cool ideas coming out for cars. My first car was a 1974 Chevy Nova. Bright Red. SS. 350 4-barrell 4-speed. Mag wheels. White letter tires. 8 miles to the gallon. Then gas went to 75 cents a gallon and I felt the pinch. So I bought a sports car: a baby blue Porsche 914. 23 miles per gallon in town and 32 mpg on the road. That was 1975.

I had that car for a long time. Actually until we had our daughter. Then, in 1985, after 10 years and 120,000 miles, I traded it off. Three people and a two-seater car just wasn’t practical. So we got a Toyota Corolla. A lot less sexy. But it got about 23 mpg in town and about 30 mpg on the road. And we could all go places as a family.

Fast forward to 2003. I now have a Volkswagen Beetle. An awe-inspiring 23 mpg in town and about 28 to 30 mpg on the road. Do you see where this is going?

In the last 35 years, small car gas mileage has realistically stayed pretty static. Even a Hybrid Prius (the best mileage car out there) only gets about 50 miles per gallon (most small cars get about 23 mpg in town and 30 mpg on the road at best). So in 35 years, we’ve managed to increase gas efficiency by about double in the best case scenario. While gas prices have quadrupled.

The concept of electric cars has intrigued me. I watched the movie “Who Killed the Electric Car?” and was maddened and was tempted to become cynical. I was hopeful when I heard about the Chevy Volt. Finally, an all-electric car made in the good old U.S. of A. The original media on the Volt was it would be all-electric.

Then, my cynicism returned: The Volt would end up with a gas generated back-up. My heart sank. Did Chevy cave to “range anxiety?” Or is there some sort of conspiracy? (GM actually wants to trademark the term “range anxiety”… now THAT makes as much sense as Apple wanting to trademark the lower case letter i). The Nissan Leaf EV is coming soon (we hope). Maybe. Still in the reservation stage. But it’s actually kind of ugly. Sorry, Nissan.

So I turned to the Th!nk City, a Norwegian car that has been throughout Europe for years, is ALL electric and has a range of about 100 miles. And it’s pleasing to the eye. Please bring the Th!nk to the USA! They say they’re going to. I’m on “the list.” But, honestly, I’m not holding my breath.

Which leads me to the Ford Focus EV shown above. All electric (as of today). Coming to showrooms near us this Fall (we hope). Made in the USA. Please, Ford, don’t cave to range anxiety (GM may own the term anyway…).

Be bold and go for it. I think I’d sell my Beetle for one.

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The Seven Sins of Greenwashing – Sin #5

GREENWASH
Greenwashing is “the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.”

SIN #5 – THE SIN OF LESSER OF TWO EVILS
Well, I struggled with this sin. Not that I gave in (have never smoked, never had the desire to smoke), but that there were a couple of pictures I could have used. The lesser of two evils sin deals with making a claim that diverts your attention from the real problems. The picture I decided to use is that of a company that makes organic cigarettes. Really. Organic cigarettes.

And not only that, but the smoke screen (pun intended) continues because not only are these cigarettes organic (natural tastes better, after all), their tobacco has been grown “in a responsible, sustainable way through our earth-friendly and organic growing programs.” The ad goes on to list how they are reducing their “footprint on the earth by using recycled materials and renewable energy sources like wind power.” And, as ATIS547 from flickr (who posted the photo) added after their quote “protecting the earth is as important to us as it is to you” by saying “in other words, the earth is fine — it’s YOU we’d like to see dead.”

I used their picture because they seem to win the prize (at least in my book) for the most attempts at diversion. But I have to confess it was a close one between these cigarettes and the 2011 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid SUV.

The Tahoe hybrid gets an amazing 20 mpg in town (better than the 15 mpg of the standard Tahoe) and hauls up to eight people. My problem is I rarely see more than one or two people in most any SUV. And that’s where the issue arises for this sin: the increase in fuel economy actually diverts your attention from the real problem. And that is that most times, you don’t need an SUV for carting one or two people around.

So I guess I just want to point out that we should, once again, be very discerning in the ads that bombard us all the time. The cigarettes even have the disclaimer “No additives in our tobacco does NOT mean a safer cigarette.” Oh, really?

And I’ll be the first to say if you regularly cart six or eight people around, the Chevy Tahoe hybrid might be a good choice for you. But if you’re like most of us who drive around with one (at most two) people in our vehicles, maybe a smaller car (or the bus…) might be a better option.

Don’t get sucked into the hype; stay focused on the real issues.

Next Post: Sin #6 – The Sin of Fibbing

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Simple Sometimes is Really Good

OK, so a few days ago I dissed on the one-cup coffee makers with all the disposables. Now for something truly sustainable and amazing. It’s the Niagra Stealth HET (High Efficiency Toilet). Made by Niagra Conservation, the Stealth toilet is a single flush, using only 0.8 gallons. Most of the new dual flush toilets are 0.9 and 1.6 gallons per flush, depending on whether or not you are flushing #1 or #2. This toilet uses air-assist to achieve the results and seems to work very well.

I haven’t actually used one or seen it “in action”, but all indications are that it’s pretty amazing. It recently received recognition as one of the Top 10 Green Products for 2010 by the Environmental Building News organization.

It also is simpler, with less moving parts. It uses air and vacuum in the filling to help the efficiency of the flush, is quiet and retails for about the same as a good quality standard toilet: $300. It currently comes only in white. But it may the future of HE toilets.