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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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Business Commute Challenge – Follow-Up

In my previous Business Commute Challenge 2011 post, I kind of put the carrot out there and challenged myself to see if I could ride my bike to work every day for a month. Not just the one week of the BCC, but until June 10.

Today’s June 10 and I want to report back to you that I made it.

Well, almost.

During the month between May 10 and June 10, I only drove my car to work two days. I rode my bike all the other days. To and from work. To and from meetings. I logged 224 miles on my bike. Which means I saved about $40 in gasoline, lost about 5 pounds and got some pretty good workouts.

The two days I drove were the two days right after Memorial Day weekend. I got a bad cold over the weekend and was still feeling sick Tuesday and Wednesday. I didn’t feel like riding. Hey, I was having trouble breathing and was coughing just sitting still. So I drove.

But the point isn’t that I didn’t exactly make my goal. The point is I think I enjoy biking even more now than when I started. Fair enough, we’ve had some pretty mild weather this last month. Very little rain (at least in the mornings coming in and the evenings going home). But I enjoy riding even more now than a month ago.

And, also fair enough, Eugene, Oregon, where I live has to have some of the best bike paths, lanes and streets of any community I know. So when it’s easier to get somewhere by bike, we are more likely to ride. And I have to admit, riding past a line of cars stuck in traffic has a certain feeling to it that’s a little hard to describe.

And riding along the Ruth Bascom Riverbank Trail bike/pedestrian path and enjoying the fresh, crisp morning air, chirping birds, pooping geese (well, I could live without the pooping geese, but the goslings are cute), and the spring flowers has a certain feeling, too, that is kind of hard to describe.

I’m finding I like biking better than driving. Not being stuck in traffic, inhaling exhaust fumes, enduring tense, uptight drivers. Oh, there are the few bikers and pedestrians that are uptight, but they are the few. And some of my biking is along a busy street, so I suck my share of fumes. But I have some good gear: a good helmet, rain gear, wrap-around eye glasses and wonderful saddle bags.

For me, at this point, it’s become less about saving gas, having a smaller carbon footprint, polluting less and more about sheer enjoyment.

So I’m REALLY hooked now. I’ll check back with you on July 10 and give you all another update.

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NewWood – A Revolutionary Idea

As a stark contrast to the Numi toilet I recently panned, I’m totally excited about the concept behind NewWood. Starting with a nuclear power plant in Washington that was never completed or brought online, some very resourceful entrepreneurs have come up with what just could be one of the most revolutionary ideas to come along in a very long time.

Taking a mix of 50% recycled wood and 50% recycled plastic, they have started production (just within the last few days) on a 4×8 sheet that could replace much of the way we currently make plywood and sheet goods for underlayment, etc.

We spoke with Steve Pottle, from NewWood and are getting some samples. Our primary thought is to use them in our kit homes endeavor for developing countries, World3Homes. We had been looking for a sheet good that was durable, insect and moisture resistant, flexible for earthquake resistance, lightweight and economical. So far as we can tell, NewWood fits the bill on all counts.

What excites me about NewWood is the wood comes from wood waste that would have gone into the landfills, like some construction demolition waste, so it’s appropriate to be taking that material and reusing it in buildings. The plastic comes from plastic bottles and bags that may or may not get recycled (there seems to be plenty of it to go around). And the factory is recycled, too — a nuclear power plant never finished that was going to be a manufacturing facility that never started in an area of Washington with chronic unemployment.

The other thing about NewWood that I appreciate is NewWood itself is 100% recyclable. When it has served its useful life, or someone remodels, NewWood can be broken down and recycled again and again.

That’s truly forward-thinking. Once I get my sample and we have a chance to try it in our first World3Homes prototype, I’ll revisit this and let you know how it performs. Oh, and thanks to Preston Koerner from JetsonGreen; that’s where I first heard about NewWood.

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Kohler Numi Toilet

Unbelievable. Technology is going to save us once and for all. For a price.

As seen in USA Today, a new customizable “smart toilet” is being brought to the US market the end of this month. Called the “Numi”, Kohler’s new toilet is billed as “a perfect blend of technology, performance, and design.” It comes complete with “adjustable heated seat and foot warmer too, plus an integrated stainless steel, self-cleaning bidet wand with a dryer. A motion-controlled seat and lid can automatically open when you approach and close when you split. Tripping a bar of light on the floor to the side of the toilet automatically raises the seat, while the toilet automatically flushes when walking away.”

It comes in white or biscuit and has a remote control that can be programmed for up to six individual users. And it can be yours for only $6,300. So while it may be a perfect blend of technology, performance, and design, cost obviously isn’t part of the “blend.” It is dual flush with 0.6 or 1.28 gallons per flush, so there is one redeeming factor with this toilet.

But that’s the only one.

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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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Roland S. Martin – CNN Guest Blog

I have never posted verbatim another blog post until today. With the recent events in Libya, gas prices soaring (again) and the nuclear meltdown in Japan, I was going to write something, because I just couldn’t keep quiet. Then, I came across Roland Martin’s post on CNN today (March 12, 2011) and decided he said it better than I ever could. So, I contacted him and obtained permission to repost it here. It’s well worth the read but it would be even important if we actually paid attention to what he says.

CNN Editor’s note: Roland Martin is a syndicated columnist and author of “The First: President Barack Obama’s Road to the White House.” He is a commentator for TV One Cable network and host/managing editor of its Sunday morning news show, “Washington Watch with Roland Martin.”

(CNN) — Gas prices are skyrocketing nationwide and Americans are angry that they have to spend more of their hard earned money at the pump each week.

The crisis in northern Africa, specifically in Libya, has led the dramatic rise in the cost of oil, which now tops $101 a barrel, over the past month. And with summer approaching, Americans are fretting over whether to hit the highway for vacation because the price of gas, averaging $3.52 a gallon nationwide, is expected to go even higher.

Our political leaders? Some Democrats and Republicans are leaning on President Barack Obama to open the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and use some of the millions of barrels of oil we have on tap to provide some relief as a result of the price increase.

In a news conference Friday, President Obama said he’ll release the oil if needed.

“All options are on the table when it comes to any supply disruption,” he said.

Is this Groundhog Day or what?

Three years ago this nation went through convulsions when gas prices skyrocketed. Folks were sharing rides and pushing elected officials to broaden public transportation plans. Hybrids and electric cars started getting a second look from gas conscious drivers, and all the talk was about alternative energy and not being dependent on Arab leaders in the Middle East.

And when those gas prices went back down? We yelled, screamed and cheered, and then pulled the SUVs out of the garage, filled them up with gasoline and forgot all about the pain we endured.

This is the American story: Alleviate our pain so we can go back to business as usual. And when the crisis comes back, we’ll fret, scream and go bonkers.
Please, stop the madness!

When are we simply going to reach the conclusion that as long as this nation has a Charlie Sheen-like addiction to gas, our chains can be yanked at any time, which will send our economy into a tailspin?

The U.S. Energy Department predicts that with the dramatic rise in gas prices, the average American family will spend an additional $700 annually on gas. And with money already tight, that is a huge hit.

Unfortunately, our crack-like dependence on oil continues to lead us down the road of agony and despair, and our political leaders have no courage to own up to the special interests and gas lovin’ Americans and say, “Dammit, enough! We can’t move forward like this!”

Democrats and Republicans are now saying President Obama needs to allow for more drilling off the shores of the United States. Really? So that’s the only answer? Everyone knows there isn’t enough oil to satisfy America’s thirst. But oh no, we keep this charade up.

America will never be able to transition our system from an oil-dependent economy to an alternative plan unless we show the courage to make the tough choices today and get the payoff later.

I don’t care what Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann says about energy efficient lightbulbs; the old ones were cheaper, used more energy and we had to buy a lot more. The government’s move to force a new lightbulb standard caused some pain on the front end with my wallet, but over the long term, fewer bulbs are being bought and I’m seeing a decrease in my light bill.

Until the nation accepts this reality, we will continue to be at the mercy of oil-possessing countries.

Embracing non-oil energy alternatives — wind, natural gas, electric and solar — can absolutely create jobs in this country, and we should require Americans to make their homes more energy efficient with products built by Americans. What’s wrong with that? How can the United States create solar technology and then allow the Chinese to become the leading manufacturer of wind turbines and solar panels?

No one alternative energy source can replace oil. It has to be a comprehensive plan that addresses our long-term needs. And it is going to mean we will have to spend money. Yes, we will be affected in the short-term, but if someone told me we could spend $500 billion today, and that would create millions of jobs over the next several years and lead to a transition to an alternative-energy economy, I would ask where I should sign up.

But if we have no courage, we will lose every time.

So, if the only thing you know is “drill, baby, drill,” and that gasoline is our only option, great. Have a wonderful time. And every time gas skyrockets, just smack yourself upside the head with that gas pump, because you’re the reason we remain stuck on stupid when it comes to energy in this country.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland Martin.

But we here at thesimpleHOUSE share these opinions, too.

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Compromise or Consensus: The Heart or the Mind?

I’ve had some conversations recently related to compromise and consensus. Just like many people think compostable and biodegradable are one-in-the-same, many also think compromise and consensus are synonyms; but they aren’t.

COMPROMISE
Compromise is defined by Webster as “settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions.” In plain English, this means when reaching a decision, each party gives up something. They concede.

CONSENSUS
Consensus is defined by Webster first as “general agreement” and second as “group solidarity in sentiment and belief.” Also known as buy-in. Its root is in the Latin word “consentio” meaning to “feel together.”

I’m big on consensus; I’m not so enamored with compromise. Compromise has such a negative connotation. We went to dinner with some friends and he made a comment that resonated with me. It applies here. He said “we need to agree at the heart level, not the intellectual level.”

What I took from this was that compromise is the intellectual level. Our mind rationalizes and comes to conclusions and we may get to a point of tolerating our neighbor. But we don’t really love our neighbor. That comes from consensus.

Consensus is the heart level. It’s the buy-in. The “feel together” aspect of a decision. We reach a conclusion with another and we own it. Too often, we give in or we argue to win and it’s really boiling down to how it affects me. Not my friend, not my neighbor. Me. Selfish, self-centered me. And when we “lose” or don’t win completely, we compromise. A decision is made not in line with our desire and we say something like “He’s not MY President,” or “She’s not MY Mayor.” (I’ve seen and heard those exact quotes — and I think you have too).

What I appreciate about consensus is the feel together, solidarity aspect it brings. The heart. We can disagree on compostable versus biodegradable versus recyclable versus reusable, but the real issue is do we care about the Creation around us? And really, when it gets to that heart level, I think we are all “feeling together” or in solidarity that we do. While I have friends with a vast range of opinions on global warming, climate change, drilling for oil and solar photovoltaics, I think one opinion we all share is we like this Earth we live on and want it to be a pleasant place to live.

And I guess that’s where I struggle with where we are at as a culture right now. In politics, in religion, we dig in our heels, we demand our way, we argue and refuse to even compromise, much less reach any kind of consensus. A public speaker I admire once said “This is really about That.”

We argue in the political arena about styrofoam cups or compostable cups. We debate the content of a book without ever having read it. And, I believe the bottom line in the argument has really nothing to do with the environment or the book, but rather a power trip to prove who is the Alpha Male. In the first situation, I’d like to believe both sides would really like to see less waste, less garbage, spoons that don’t break, etc. But we resort to positioning and strutting instead of addressing the issues of waste and breaking spoons. Because we don’t ever want to appear to compromise. And the second situation is positioning myself as the expert (back to that Alpha Male scenario).

I wonder what would happen if, in every decision we had to make as a group, in every political arena, every religious arena, we started with outlining what we agree on. Before we ever got into the issue, we listed the things we agree on. Then list our goals. What do we want to accomplish in this venue? And then (and only then), we worked toward consensus and general agreement and solidarity.

I think then, we would really be loving our neighbor instead of merely tolerating them.

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Deep Green – Movie Review

“All I know is, I’m alive now and I can do something today, and I can’t in good conscience wait for somebody else to do it. I think the time is now; for me the time is absolutely now. It’s the only time anybody has”. Kathy Bash, Architect with DMS Architects in Portland, Oregon. Of all the people and quotes and sound bites from the film, this is the one that stuck with me the most.

Deep Green, a documentary from Matt Briggs, is not so much about the problem, but about solutions. In his description of his film, Briggs says: “Other films have done a great job of showing us the problem. We wanted ‘Deep Green’ to be about solutions.” And the film does just that. In an hour and 40 minutes (which, in my opinion could have been about 20 minutes shorter), Briggs focuses more on the ways people around the world are addressing ways to reduce their footprint and live a little lighter on the planet than on the problems with our lifestyles. Briggs himself has retrofitted his own home with numerous energy-saving, sustainable features. And he’s apparently still at it, adding some solar here, some composting there; yes, he’s living it.

The film starts out with some basic background data on global warming and climate change, but doesn’t stay there. It dives right in to what’s happening around the world in the areas of clean energy, high-speed rail, sustainable buildings, agriculture and out-of-the-box thinking. Briggs shows how everything is connected and “we all live downstream.”

What I appreciate about the film, enjoying its Eugene, Oregon debut (Briggs is a University of Oregon alum), is it does concentrate on what’s good out there, what we can do and how it makes environmental sense and economic sense. Too often, I think, filmmakers of this genre zero in on the gloom and doom aspects of climate change. We are so close to the tipping point, or have passed it, that the message gets lost in the futility. And that is what sets this film apart from the others. It was a bit long (I would have shown less detail on the clean coal segment and been a little less enamored with China), but still worth the watch. You won’t come away from this film discouraged, downcast or brow-beaten.

Which brings me back to Kathy Bash’s remarks. I know Kathy as a colleague and respect her as a fellow Architect. She has a passion, yet practicality in her view of sustainability. Which makes her opening quote so profound. I am responsible for what I can do. We must take responsibility for ourselves; if we all would do that, we would move forward at breakneck speed.

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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.