Warming Up a Rainy/ Snowy Day

Snowy Rain on Knapp Street

Yes, it's raining again today - it even snowed.  That makes almost a week of rainy, cold days.  I think I could stand one or the other but getting the rain and the cold at the same time is pretty miserable.  We can expect more of this with global warming, I understand.

But let's be positive!  The rainy/ snowy/ cool weather got me to finally do a project I've been saying all winter that I'm going to do - make Granola!  I'm not sure of the carbon impact of making granola at home.  It does, after all, entail heating up the oven.  I expect it's more efficient for great big companies to toast those oats than it is for everyone in the U.S. to toast their own.  On the other hand, look at all of that garbage that gets eliminated - a box and a plastic bag (and maybe another plastic carrying bag from the store) for every 14 oz. or so of granola- and maybe less gas expended in delivery.  That's what I'm thinking of when I decided to finally make my own today.

Here is today's batch:

Granola Right Out of the Oven
Oven temp:  300,  cooking time:  1/2 hour

And here are the benefits I see to home made granola:

• It's an easy project to do with a three year old.  Andres got to pour and stir all of the ingredients and we didn't worry about measuring.
• It filled the house with a wonderful aroma thanks to the vanilla and coconut we added.
• It tastes great.
• I think it has less sugar than the store bought stuff.  Tastes that way, anyway - just sweet enough, but not too sweet.
• You can put about anything you want into your granola.   We used what was in the fridge and on the shelf:  oats, some sesame seeds, walnuts and almonds - raisins - coconut, vanilla, wheat germ, honey and a little sesame oil to smooth out the honey. (I added the raisins after baking.)
• It warmed the house up to have that oven on - particularly since I opened the door every 10 minutes during the 1/2 hour cooking time to give the oats a stir.
• I'm reducing waste - no more cardboard boxes and plastic bags from the prepackaged kind.

One word of warning, if you want to try granola on your own, remember to stir it often!

I still remember my first batch of granola, back in my college/ hippie days (I was never technically a hippy because I didn't own a pair of jeans or one of those cute long flowery dresses, but close to the earth was popular back then too, and making your own granola was kind of expected.)  I shared a house with a few other students, and the granola was a joint effort, but I must have been in charge.  That first batch - full of wonderful nuts and dried fruits - was fondly dubbed Christy's Hard As Nails Granola.  I didn't stir it while it was cooking and the honey congealed the oats into hard, barely chewable, clumps.  Ah well, it tasted good anyway.

Turn off the lights ! - It's beautiful.

After a storm at Arches National Park

I have always loved the lighting that occurs when the sky is dark from a recent storm and the sun is out behind me shining dramatically on the foreground.  It's spectacular and beautiful.  In portrait photography too, working with contrasts of light and shadow can produce beautiful and striking images (if the camera can handle it).

Even though I know this, I hadn't thought much about how that quality of light might affect my use of household lights until I was at a meeting last week in our fellowship hall at church.  I'm not a big fan of meeting in that space.  It's a big room with florescent lighting above and bare walls - rather blah. I often have trouble understanding other people when they speak as their voices seem to disappear (that's my hearing issue at work).

We were a small group - maybe 10 or so - of people gathered to talk about our next steps in working to slow climate change and there we were in that big room with all of those lights on.  I got up and went to the row of switches, turning them off until only the lights above our table remained.  When I went back to the table and sat down, I was actually amazed about how much more pleasant it was!  With a dark room around us and lights above us, I had created that dramatic lighting you see in the photo above.  Our space became more cozy and the light that remained over us appeared more brilliant.   My table mates' faces were sharper and easier to see without a lot of excess light behind them and it was easier for me to hear, probably because I could read lips more easily.  So there you go.  I saved some electricity and created a nicer space at the same time.  I love examples that show changing our lifestyle to use less carbon can be a nice thing for us as well as for the environment.

Turning off lights at home is already a well used practice for us - enough so that I hardly think about it. I just turn off lights if I'm not in a room.  It shows on our energy usage too.  Electricity use is the one area where we actually perform better than our most efficient neighbors!  Yay!.  I wish I could say the same thing for our use of gas.  Not so good there.

For a background link, I looked for statistics on the carbon imprint of turning off the lights.  For all of the talk about switching to CFL's, there wasn't much about just not using the lights to begin with, which seems to me to make even more sense.  I did find this great link though, which is a teaching outline for junior high on personal carbon use.  It's a great outline and even comes with test questions and statistics to use in your computations.  Try it out - might be fun.  Oh, and the statistic for turning off your lights is:  Turning off unneeded lights could be a savings of 376 pounds of CO2 emissions per year (similar to air drying your clothes for six months).  Of course, everyone's electricity use differs. so here is the basic statistic to use in your own computation:  Electricity to run lights and appliances - 1.64 lbs of CO2 per kWh. (kilowatt hour)

Here's the link:  Reducing Personal CO2 Emmissions

Tomorrow is the Last Day To Comment against the Alberta Clipper Tar Sands Pipeline Expansion

Tomorrow, April 14th, is the last day to have your say on  Enbridge's proposal to expand its pipeline, which carries tar sands crude from Alberta. Per an info sheet from MN350, Tar sands oil is the dirtiest form of oil on this planet. Its exploitation results in up to 37% more CO2 emissions than with normal crude oil. "Climate scientists warn that full development of tar sands oil will be "game over" for the climate."  That sounds pretty severe.

Enbridge wants to increase today's flow through the Alberta Clipper (Line 67) pipeline by another 350,000 barrels per day.  That's an increase of over 5 billion gallons per year!

You can submit your comments by email to: RouteComments.OAH@state.mn.us.  Include both the PUC Docket Number (PL-0/CN-13-153) and the OAH Docket Number (8-2500-30952) in the e0mail subject line.  The PUC has invited public comments on these criteria:

* Is the proposed project needed and in the public interest?
* What are the costs and benefits of the proposed project?
* Are there other project-related issues or concerns?


The concern is that not only will the use of these tar sands cause a horrible increase in our carbon use, but also that we don't even need this crude oil at this time.  Our Minnesota refineries already have enough crude and are exporting many of their finished products to other states.  Our domestic use of crude oil refined products is decreasing (by 5%, 4% and 7% since 2008 in the U.S., the region and Minnesota respectively.). and the Enbridge pipelines are not fully utilized at present.  They are also replacing their damaged Line 3 in Minnesota and increasing its size so that it will have about 870,000 barrels per day in excess capacity.

Other points against the Alberta Clipper project are that domestic oil is booming and Enbridge has announced plans to increase its use of domestic rather than crude oil at two of its refineries.  Also, if the Keystone project is approved, all of the available Canadian tar sands oil will go on their line.  Something to do with Take or Pay contracts.

OK, so my preference is to just leave that crude oil in the ground until some time in the future when we are actually desperate for it because we've used up other oil sources.  Why send our climate over the tipping point just so that Enbridge can export oil we don't even need right now?

Here's a link to more information:  Say No To Alberta Clipper

Send a comment and tell the PUC it's a bad idea.

And then, if you want to make a big push to keep Keystone from being approved too, you can always hop on the bus and join the demonstration in Washington with the Cowboy Indian Aliance of farmers the end of this month.  Join the MN350 on a whirlwind bus trip action against Keystone pipeline to D.C. on April 25th.  Only $159 for the bus ride and ought to be a pretty interesting experience. (I'm not doing that one, but you might want to.)

Sometimes saving our planet is about day to day lifestyle changes.  Other times it's about taking public action to change the way the big guys use our resources.  Today's about that.  Take 10 minutes - or less - and send your comments on this issue.  Thanks.

Innovative Ways to Use Your Car

Our Van 

Here's a photo of the van we bought last year. It's a big one and if you've read this blog before, you probably know that I'm feeling guilty about having purchased such a gas guzzler when I'm supposed to be so concerned about global warming.  But then, I'm just not a perfect person.  Our reasoning behind the purchase was that we needed a vehicle that would pull that cute pop up camper for us and, more importantly, we wanted to be able to comfortably fit two grandsons and their enormous car seats, our daughter, and the two of us when we traveled - not only on a few camping trips - but anytime we wanted to go together somewhere - which is actually fairly frequently.

Still, the vehicle gets driven several times a week with only one or two persons - not an efficient use of gas.  To compensate, I try to encourage car pooling when going on outings with friends and we offer to drive.  That's been somewhat successful.  We've filled the vehicle at least twice for day long trips and I've had multiple passengers for many shorter ones.

While on vacation,  however, Cathy taught me a new way to use our car.  She was also headed out on vacation to Brainerd for a few days with her large family plus a friend and couldn't fit them all in her nicely economical Prius - so she asked if we could switch cars.  What a great idea!

I love the idea of borrowing but am slow to get into the habit. Just think of all of the resources out there we can use without buying new.  Ask your friends or send a note on the neighborhood list serve the next time you have a temporary use for an item.  You'll save some money and some carbon at the same time.

Saving Puget Sound

I'm vacationing in my home state of Washington.  Walking along the waterfront in Point Defiance Park, I was reminded again of our personal impact on the climate.

A major climate change impact here is the sustainability of the Puget Sound eco system.  The fish and other sea life are dying because of pollution and raising sea temperature is a concern.  At view points information signs talk about work to revive the system's ecology and they make the same point as in the sign below- it's not the factories that are causing the problem (they've cleaned up their act)- it's us.  There are just too many people impacting this eco system and to save it, each individual- whether they are on the water or near the water- needs to change his or her practices to keep the water clean and healthy.

How are people doing? I don't really know. I expect like everywhere the message just hasn't hit home yet. For example, I noticed walking in a beautiful neighborhood on a hill with a staggering view of the water, beautiful green, weed free lawns and a lawn service truck spraying its chemicals onto one of them. I'm sure the owners of those weed free lawns didn't think for a moment about the impact of those chemicals on the fragile waters below. I doubt it even occurred to them.  That is the issue we face- getting us all to think about it all of the time until it becomes a way of life.

Six Ways to Reduce Car Use

Last Sunday's Ecumenical Lenten Carbon Fast suggestion was to find the lowest carbon impact method of getting to church (walking, bus, bike, carpool) and to look at the week's short trips and find at least two ways to reduce driving.  Here are the stats behind that suggestion:

• Reducing driving is one of the most effective ways an individual can reduce carbon use.
• The average person makes 44 car trips a year that are under a mile.
• A four mile round trip walked rather than driven keeps 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air we breathe.
• Walking and bicycling are healthier than driving (at least from an exercise standpoint).

I must admit, it is a lot easier to follow this advice when the snow and ice are gone and the temperatures are warmer, but I gave it a try.  I didn't do particularly well, but there were a few bright spots:

(1) The weather warmed enough today that I braved the wet and beginning to freeze sidewalks to walk to a meeting that I would have driven to when the weather was colder or the sidewalks icy.

(2) I alleviated a bit of my guilt about traveling all the way to Shoreview to go to the gym by arranging to run errands in that location rather than taking separate trips in town.

(3)I had also made the effort to carpool to a concert, but the arrangements fell through at the last minute and my attempt to take the bus also fell through when I realized the easy route going to the concert disappeared in the late afternoon and coming home would have been just too hard.

But the weather is warming and the snow will be gone eventually.  Then my options - and yours - will increase.  So think about this when planning a trip about town:

Carpool - Everyone that rides with you equates to one less car on the road. It's a nice way to visit with friends too.  If you drive to work, Metro Transit has a carpool matching feature.  I haven't tried it because I work at home, but sounds like a good idea.  Here's the link:  Metro Transit Carpool

Bike -  It's amazing how quickly you can travel on a bike.  I can get to church, for instance, in about the same time as it takes me to drive. Here's a link to Bicycle Maps and Resources

Walk -  It's the best way to smell the roses.  Here's a link to walking and biking maps in the Twin Cities: Bike Walk Twin Cities

Bus -  That takes some planning, but the more we use the bus, the better the routes will become.  Here's a great resource with interactive maps, bus schedules and trip planners (Minneapolis St. Paul):  Metro Transit

Light Rail -  The new green line from St. Paul to Minneapolis will open this summer. Here's link to a Minneapolis site that links to light rail schedules.  It also shows some free bus routes downtown.

Hour Car - saves insurance and upkeep on a second car and gas cost is less. Here's the link: Hourcar

15 Things You Will (Almost) Never Throw Away Again

So much of what we talk about reducing our carbon footprint our parents would have just called thrifty - or necessary.  At last night's Timely Topics presentation, Kit talked about growing up in a family that had a big garden because the produce was a necessity to supplement their small income.  Besides eating and growing vegetables, they also practiced frugality with their food - waste not, want not.

Kit shared tips for ways she uses up the parts of vegetables that we perhaps throw away.  I must admit that I throw away a lot of vegetable scraps, peelings and ends and feel bad about it, particularly in the winter when the compost bin is buried under several feet of frozen snow.  I've already forgotten most of Kit's quickly shared tips but luckily, when I got home I sat down to read one of Cathy's handouts - a past edition of "Mix" a Twin Cities Coop publication - and there was a great review of the book "An Everlasting Meal" by Tamar Adler.  The article was by Tricia Cornell (Minnesota author) and included a great sidebar titled "15 Things You'll (Almost) Never Throw Away Again.  Thanks Tamar and Tricia.  I'm now going to share a bit of your wisdom.

15 Things You'll (Almost) Never Throw Away Again

1.  Leek Tops.  Cook with other vegetables or meat for broth.  Add to a pot of beans.

2.  Parsley stems.  Chop finely for tabouli.  Use to brighten stews.

3.  Chard stems.  Cover in vinegar and spices to make quick refrigerator pickles.

4.  Kale and collard stems.  Use in vegetable stock.  Boil and blitz with garlic and oil to make pesto.

5.  Onion skins.  Save and dry to color eggs.  Add to vegetable stock or to pots of beans.

6.  Carrot tops.  Blend with plenty of oil, garlic and salt for a universal green sauce.

7.  Radish, turnip and beet greens.  Saute.  Douse with vinegar.  Enjoy.

8.  Tomato seeds.  Push through a sieve to catch the flavorful juices.  Shake with Tobasco and salt.  Drink.

9.  Potato peels.  Scrub clean and deep fry for a crispy snack.

10.  Broccoli stems and leaves.  Roast or saute along with florets.

11.  Cauliflower cores.  Boil for soup or mash with oil and cheese.

12.  Bones.  Save raw and cooked bones separately in the freezer.  Simmer for stock when you have a big batch.

13.  Stale bread.  Grind or grate to thicken soups and stews.  Cube for croutons.

14.  Bean cooking water.  Season and drink on its own.  Use as a soup base.

15.  Brine from pickles and olives, oil from tuna and sardines.  Use to launch vinaigrette or dress cold roasted vegetables.

Here is something I have been doing this year with vegetable peelings:  put them in a zip lock bag in the freezer and when there is enough, make a vegetable stock. This isn't particularly recommended for cabbage and broccoli, but works well with onion skins, potato and carrot peels, herbs etc.  I don't tend to do this when I'm not using organic produce because I worry about pesticide residue - so there is one more reason to bite the bullet and buy organic produce.

So what are your tried and true tricks to use up everything?

And why is it important?  Again, the methane gas from our landfills is a huge, huge contributor to climate warming.  We just need to reduce, reduce,  reduce our waste.  I hear of people who have hardly any garbage.  It can be done.  I'm still working on it.