Day: August 9, 2006

A friend of mine sent me a link regarding a report about violence and alcohol outlets. In some places, like wealthy neighborhoods, a lot of bars are not a problem. But in unstable poorer neighborhoods, a lot of bars are a problem.
Speaking of, Jim Berry, our fearless leader, said something along the lines that actual bodies challenging liquor licenses need to appear at the ABC hearings. Jim is welcomed to comment on this to clarify (or send a short 5-10 sentence email).

I have researched and thought about the whole solar panel thing and my roof is so small and does not have a full days’ sun that the amount of power I would produce would be minimal. Part of me is thinking I could produce more power with a bike generator. Now if I were in Florida, I might be able to do something, but no. I have a small rowhouse, in the middle of a long row, in Washington, DC, with little roof space.
I would probably do more by cutting down on my energy use than trying to up my energy production. It reminds me of personal finance advice where it doesn’t matter if your income doubles if your spending outpaces it. Same goes a bit for energy use. The goal will be to reduce my energy consumption. Maybe I’ll look into small solar things. I don’t want to be a pioneer in this arena. It would be nice to talk to someone with the same square footage and with similar conditions, who has lived with the solar (panels/ water heater) for a while.
Last weekend I had a quick chat with someone from an eco design firm and it was mentioned that more can be done with just replacing energy inefficient things in the house. The example given was a homeowner wanted new insulation which would save something like (I forgot the exact number given) 10-30%, yet just replacing the old furnace would save 60%.
I’ll keep y’all informed about any energy efficient/ eco-friendly stuff I find.