LVM's Environmental Action Blog

missing in action

2006-03-15T12:49:00.000-08:00

This post has been a long time in coming, because lvmenvironmental has been on hiatus. Back in town and within reliable reach of internet access, the game is on again. The plan for this year has been to move toward participating in environmental construction, specifically restoration and renovation: out of academia and into the proverbial "real world." Check out Sustainable Structures to see where the first steps were made. For now: stay tuned and keep it evil.

photo by mefford williams

california water

2005-10-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

an on location report from lvm environmental

photo by shanna powell

California water has been made famous around the whitewater world. The spring Sierra snowmelt season invites religious whitewater paddlers to a yearly pilgrimage, taking videos, photographs, and stories home to every corner of the United States and multiple continents beyond. Much like climbing’s Yosemite, paddling’s High Sierra season has made these mountains world-famous again: both elements, granite and water, are extraordinarily valuable.
The value of California’s water is undeniable. One only needs to glance eastward to the arid environment of Nevada: a state living in the dry shadow of California’s High Sierra. California (155,959 square miles) is home to 35 million people while Nevada's (109,826 square miles) population is less than 2.4 million. [U.S. Census Bureau, 2004]
The Sierra is separated from the Pacific by the Central Valley, the Coast Mountain Ranges respectively, and act as a vital source of water for the major cities: Los Angeles, San Louis Obispo, Sacramento, and the mighty Bay Area.
Los Angeles draws water through an aqueduct of the same name from as far away as Mono Basin, past the town of Bishop on the East side of the Sierra: over 350 miles away. The aqueduct was completed in 1941 by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, at the top draining watersheds belonging to the terminal ‘Dead Sea of California’, Mono Lake. This Lake only loses water through evaporation; in a climate of 15% humidity, annual evaporation averages around 45 vertical inches. From 1941 to when the amount of water taken from the lake began being regulated: 1994, the lake’s surface fell 42 vertical feet losing over half its original volume, doubling salinity levels to more than 2 and 1/2 times that of the Pacific. The impacts diminished and threatened many species of wildlife, some of them endemic to Mono Lake. Water regulations limiting LADWP diversions brought on by environmental groups determined to save Mono Lake have forced water conservation measures into nearly every household; Los Angeles has subsequently lowered consumption levels while population continues to grow.

California's Dead Sea:

photo by mefford williams

The rivers grow out of Sierra, white trains headed for the Pacific; aqueducts, agriculture, livestock have changed the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys from a grass and marshland of epic proportions home to the once prolific Grizzly bear: an animal that now only lives on the State Flag. California’s businesses, homes, and economy are bank rolled by Sierra rivers and reservoirs. The New San Pedro Dam on the Tuolumne River holds 1.9 million acre-feet when full; the rivers annual volume is 2.0 million acre-feet.

the Tuolumne between O'Shaughnessy and New Don Pedro:

photo by mefford williams

The Bay Area draws water from as high as the O’Shaughnessy dam on the Tuolumne, a foul word in the mouths of monkey-wrenchers, which floods Hetch Hetchy Valley, the glaciated sister of Yosemite Valley. San Francisco owns the Cherry and Eleanor reservoirs; the whole water system supplies among other receivers, a $2 billion agricultural industry. The debate surrounding the Hetch Hetchy removal efforts still rages on the pages of newspapers in the Tuolumne watershed; Restore Hetch Hetchy and the environmental community have even whispered about trading downstream portions of Tuolumne River which is designated Wild and Scenic. By adding height on other down stream dams, the water storage loss from removing the Hetch Hetchy Dam could be accumulated elsewhere.
California represents a preview (for some a parallel) of what we all might see when fresh water resources are competed over by multiple consumers. Kayakers boof around on the pinnacles of above what is the 5th largest economy in the world: quite a valuable playground.

Who owns the water on your home run?

photo by mefford williams

good green fun at salida's fibark festival

2005-06-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

photo by Mefford Williams
The Fibark Whitewater Festival that takes place annually in the beautiful Colorado mountain town of Salida is well known throughout the kayaking universe as a quality festival as well as rodeo, slalom, and wild water racing event.
You're welcome to scope out the details of the event, the festival, the results, the usual on another website as we here at lvmenvironmental are bringing you a different and quite inspiring spin on Fibark:
Two sponsors of the event New Belgium Brewing Company and Blue Sun BioDiesel have helped to bring not only environmental awareness to kayakers and other attendees of the event, but to put to practice some green initiatives in the usually wasteful festival atmosphere.
The generators used for cooling the beer and some other electrical needs for the weekend were run using Blue Sun's BioDiesel, a Colorado based company. BioDiesel as you may already know is a combustible fuel made from some type of vegetation (corn, soy beans, coconut, etc.) that can be run in diesel engines.
New Belgium and their flagship beer, Fat Tire Ale, brought their already environmentally minded beer producing practices to the table as well as biodegradable "plastic" beer cups made from cornstarch.
The brewery is 100% wind powered, uses half the industry average of water to produce their product (eight barrels of water for one barrel of beer), is a participant in the United States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) pilot program. The company has their own in house Sustainability Coordinator, the "Sustainability Goddess."
lvmenvironmental would like to say 'cheers' to New Belgium for their environmental initiatives and interest in supporting the sport of kayaking.
Hopefully we will see like-minded sponsors popping-up in many future kayaking festivals.

photo by Mefford Williams

lvm interns win coveted film award

2005-04-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

poster by Ashley Strickland

The ‘Strive Not to Drive Festival’ was put on by Asheville-Buncombe county to encourage the use of alternative transportation. Ashley Strickland and I entered a video, Cycle, which took First Place as well as audience vote for "Best Message". In a bold move the interns have made Penstock Productions an award winning film company. Daniel is a very proud papa, and we are super excited.
Look for the video on the upcoming LVM #16 as well as on the next LVM Greatest Hits DVD. The video will also be enjoying some time in circulation on the Asheville public access channel and will be a feature presentation at Freshman Orientation for many years to come at UNC Asheville.
Check out Land of Sky and Getting Around WNC for more details.

lvmenvironmental visits blueridge paper

2005-04-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

Notice the brown colored cloud rising from the bottom of the river.
photo by mefford williams

One of the most notorious polluters in the southeast, this paper mill (formerly Champion, now Blue Ridge Paper) is the largest manufacturer of business envelopes in the world. Along with those envelopes the plant also produces the paper used for orange juice boxes: those ones with the round plastic spout which you can’t recycle.
The plant releases their effluent directly into the Pigeon River, upstream from the section in Tennessee which is commercially rafted and visited by many a whitewater kayaker.

A close up on the brown cloud. The plant has a couple of reasons for releasing from the bottom: one of them being that there is no visible releasing pipe for passers-by to see.

photo by mefford williams

The plant is huge relative to the small size of river which it empties into; so the standards for its effluent are much better/higher/sticter than other plants which operate on huge volume rivers like the Ohio and the Mississippi. But don’t let that confuse you, this plant pollutes the @%#* out of the Pigeon and has for many decades. Paddlers of my fathers generation spoke of eddies with three-foot-high piles of foam.

After all the plant’s remediation techniques: here’s the final product. Next stop the Pigeon river. This fragrant wastewater still contains many lignins and tanic acids from the trees.

photo by mefford williams
These resilient organic pollutants don’t break down easily in the river. They persist so long actually, that the effect of them is felt after the river crosses into Tennessee, making regulation for this plant a bureaucratic nightmare.

Much of the pollution results from having to bleach the pulp for making the white color we associate with business envelopes; so here’s your opportunity to help… Buy brown or recycled business envelopes. You can also buy your orange juice in other containers besides the paper ones.
Check out treecylce for recycled envelopes.

lvmenvironmental visits the coal-fired power plant

2005-03-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

photo by Mefford Williams

Just south of Asheville looms the massive Progress Energy Power Plant. Fueled mainly by coal, as well as natural gas and diesel fuel this plant is the largest in Western North Carolina and represents a similar lay-up to most coal fired power plants in and around the eastern United States. These plants supply the majority of our commercial, residential, and industrial energy needs, as well as being the most powerful of air-polluters. Burning, at full capacity, 3000 tons of coal each day this plant represents energy production at the largest scale. The bi-products of this energy production are currently lowering the pH of our soils and streams, causing mercury accumulation in fish, lowering our visibility, contributing to human health problems, and many other negative externalities associated with the production of the electricity we so often take for granted.

Dr. Maas, UNC Asheville Environmental Science professor, taking it all in.

photo by Mefford Williams

The North Carolina Clean Smoke Stacks Initiative has put pressure on these plants to clean-up their act, so to speak. This new scrubber will help clean out Sulfates and particulates from the plant’s effluent.

photo by Mefford Williams

The Clean Air Act sets the guidelines for these plants to follow in terms of how clean their emissions must be, with state and federal agencies like the EPA acting as the watch-dogs. The Clear Skies initiative threatens to push back Clean Air Act goals by ten years, allowing coal fired plants to get by with little or no renovations to help improve our air quality.
Most of the time you use electricity, that power has been supplied by a coal fired power plant. You can help limit the pollution associated with this type of energy production by limiting your own power use and looking for alternative and sustainable sources of electricity.

Thanks much to Progress Energy and Saleena, our guide, for the interesting and informative tour.

photo by Mefford Williams

the hemlock wooly adelgid obtains some downtown Asheville real estate

2005-03-29T14:07:00.000-08:00

photo by Mefford Williams

Believed to have been introduced into the Pacific Northwest in the 1920's, the hemlock wooly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) was discovered in Virginia in the early 1950's. Since that time, the insect has spread throughout several eastern states and become a serious threat to one of its major host plants, the eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis).

photo by Mefford Williams

These sap-sucking, tree-destroying insects pose a serious threat to all eastern hemlocks, a tree playing a vital role in the mountain ecosystems of southeastern Appalachia, especially for streams. The dense and low-lying branches of the hemlock sepcifically act to help keep the stream's temperature cool, which allows for healthy trout habitat. Happy trout mean healthy, happy mountain streams—a kayakers habitat.

Now as residents of downtown Asheville, the threat is real and literally at our doorstep.
If you happen to notice these lent-like balls on your local hemlock, contact a nearby nursery for some insecticidal soap designed especially for these bad boys.

photo by Mefford Williams

lvm environmental makes the big time

2005-03-09T08:20:00.000-08:00

How do you know when you’ve made the big time? You get into some conflict with a big corporation, which means you're getting some major attention. Hopefully, for us at LVM Environmental, alot of attention will lead to influence.
We are proud to announce that Patagonia has launched an environmental action corner of their very own. We are glad to have a partner in the new school environmental movement.

We would like to give a solid shout-out to the foks at Patagonia for being an environmentally progressive company, leading with their GoHo program for the last six months.
Read about their anti-PVC policy here

pvc Article for American Whitewater (references included)

2005-02-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

Here are the first words of the movement going new school:
As far as eastern religions go, Jainism has not quite accomplished the worldwide familiarity of Buddhism, but parallels the teachings of the Buddha in origin and as a reaction to Hinduism. Jainism embraces all aspects of nature as possessing a spirit: all creatures great and small, even the life of flowers and seeds. As humans, our cognizance separates us and burdens our lives: with the ability of abstract perception we are responsible for limiting the inevitable suffering of all fellow earthly inhabitants. The penultimate reach of a Jainist can be to starve: naked and un-bathed (think of all the little creatures murdered by bathing) in full custodial commitment.
Now this may seem pretty far out there, especially for a whitewater magazine, but Jainism can send a perfectly clear message about responsibility. As lovers of and indulgers in the beauty of the river environment, we should be assuming an inherent responsibility. The new school frame of reference is about environmental protection and a custodial attitude towards our beloved rivers getting just as much attention as conservation and access.
As a springboard for our ideas: lvmenvironmental.blogspot.com is first on the scene: an easily accessible medium, drafting concepts for later magazine or video publication. Our goals are not to rant and rave, adopting the pedantic environmental activist attitude of shaming and blaming, but to provide the information and resources allowing the kayaking community to act as front-runners in an ever growing green movement.
So after that brief introduction, like it or not--straight to your face—our first big issue: PVC foam. PVC is short for polyvinyl chloride: the cheapest, most disposable, low-grade polymer, which nearly all of us have strapped to our backs on every kayaking venture. For approximately fifteen years, PVC has been used in personal flotation devices (PFD’s) because of the malleable, gooey-soft quality of this buoyant foam, which makes for ideal flotation on our kayaking torsos. There are some major issues with PVC however: First of all, the manufacturing process involves the use of heavy metals, chlorine, and the formation of dioxins and other persistent organic pollutants. When the foam decomposes these same toxic additives leach out, and their presence within the plastic foam prevents it from being recyclable.
Individuals exposed during production or to production effluents in the air and water surrounding vinyl chloride plants have increased risk of cancer, birth defects in their children, and a laundry list of other health hazards. Although effluent from the plants is regulated by state and federal standards that does not mean harmful affects are eliminated, especially from the air and waterways surrounding the plants. Here is our connection as boaters and our opportunity to make an impact: toxic effluent in our rivers, their products strapped to our backs.
Currently one company in the whitewater industry is actively leading the way, pursuing and producing an alternative; without naming names that means everyone else is using PVC. The boys and girls at Astral Buoyancy Company are utilizing polyethylene foam and kapok fibers to manufacture their more environmentally conscious PFD’s. Polyethylene foam is more durable and produces the same buoyancy as PVC with half the product. In addition, it lacks all the nasty production drawbacks as its counterpart. Polyethylene is stiffer and more difficult to manage, however, creating design and comfort issues. According to Astral head honcho Philip Curry, “The well documented environmental negatives of PVC far outweigh the difficulties inherent in using polyethylene.” Polyethylene is not perfect, but is much less harmful and is a step in the right direction. Astral’s other ingredient, kapok, is a natural fiber harvested from the seeds of the tropical kapok tree; the tapered-shape of the fibers carry seeds in the tropical winds and will help float your body on the river. In all new models for 2005, Astral Buoyancy will have phased-out the use of PVC entirely with a great reduction of PVC use in older models as well.
Although the kayaking community is not going to make a huge impression on the multi-billion dollar plastics industry, we can certainly send a clear message to all our PFD manufacturers: with an alternative readily available and plenty of negative evidence against PVC—we want something different, we want a better product—NO MORE PVC ON THE RIVER.

References:
1. Interview: Philip Curry. Owner/ Operator Astral Buoyancy Company. 02-21-05

2. Integrating industrial ecology principles into a set of environmental sustainability indicators for technology assessment. Jo Dewulf and Herman Van Langenhove.
Research Group ENVOC (Environmental Organic Chemistry and Technology), Faculty of Agricultural and Applied Biological Sciences, Ghent University
Received 8 December 2003; accepted 2 September 2004

3. A study on the production of a new material from fly ash and polyethylene Cihan Alkan, Mustafa Arslan, Mehmet Cici, Mehmet Kaya and Mustafa Aksoy
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Firat University, Elazi, Turkey
Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Firat University, Elazi, Turkey. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Firat University, Elazi, Turkey. 5 March 1994.

4. The Oil Daily, August 28, 1990 n9572 p5(1). Occidental takes the toluene entirely out of plant's PVC process. (Occidental Chemical Corp) Alan Kovski.

5. Chemical Week, Sept 22, 1993 v153 n10 p13(1)
PVC, chlorine makers urged to prepare for 'sea changes.' Elisabeth Kirschner.

6. Activist group urges phaseout of PVC. (United States/Americas)(Center for Health, Environment and Justice.)(Brief Article) Nancy Seewald.

7. Area logical choice for EPA toxic hunt. Mercury News: Pottstown, PA. Oct 05, 2003. Evan Brandt

8. Identification of organic compounds migrating from polyethylene pipelines into drinking water. D. Brocca, E. Arvin and H. Mosbæk. Environment and Resources (E&R), Technical University of Denmark, Building 115, DK-2800, Lyngby, Denmark

preventing waste with your toothbrush

2005-02-28T13:48:00.000-08:00

The dentist recommends you change your toothbrush every three months, well with all the teeth brushers there are in the world, imagine how many brushes go to the landfills every year. A new company is putting a solution to just that very dilemma: Recycline. The company makes toothbrushes and disposable razors from the yogurt cups that never seem to be the right number plastic to make it into your recycling bin. A very environmentally progressive company who is involved with other good organizations like the National Wildlife Federation.

global climate change

2005-02-17T07:42:00.000-08:00

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The Kyoto Protocol is now in effect, and in its honor lvm environmental will now take on the hottest environmental issue (no pun intended): global climate change—the artist formally known as global warming.
The Kyoto Protocol is not the solution to all climate change problems, but it is a good start (even without the US participating). Essentially the agreement is designed to decrease global CO2 emissions, the main culprit gas which enhances the greenhouse effect. Britain is a big proponent of the agreement, especially since London is built right on the Thames River, whose flow is controlled by floodgates at the ocean. Britain’s use of these floodgates has increased exponentially over the past two decades, and the island nation of merry old England is worried.
Of all the written and verbal evidence we could share (like the already 1 degree Fahrenheit increase in global average temperature); pictures speak a thousand words.

and just nineteen years later...

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green chemistry: the ultimate in reducing, recycling, and reusing

2005-02-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

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A movement is beginning to pick up speed around the world of chemistry: green chemistry. Green chemistry may not sound that exciting or relevant to you now, but has huge impacts, especially (but not limited to) the health of rivers. Chemistry plays a major role in our every day lives: from the dyes on our shirts to the detergent with which we wash them to the pills we take to make ourselves feel better about our wardrobes; chemical processes are all around us all the time.

12 Principles of Green Chemistry
(Anastas, P. T.; Warner, J. C. Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice, Oxford University Press: New York, 1998, p.30. By permission of Oxford University Press)

1. Prevention
It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it has been created.

2. Atom Economy
Synthetic methods should be designed to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product.

3. Less Hazardous Chemical Syntheses
Wherever practicable, synthetic methods should be designed to use and generate substances that possess little or no toxicity to human health and the environment.

4. Designing Safer Chemicals
Chemical products should be designed to affect their desired function while minimizing their toxicity.

5. Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries
The use of auxiliary substances (e.g., solvents, separation agents, etc.) should be made unnecessary wherever possible and innocuous when used.

6. Design for Energy Efficiency
Energy requirements of chemical processes should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized. If possible, synthetic methods should be conducted at ambient temperature and pressure.

7. Use of Renewable Feedstocks
A raw material or feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting whenever technically and economically practicable.

8. Reduce Derivatives
Unnecessary derivatization (use of blocking groups, protection/ deprotection, temporary modification of physical/chemical processes) should be minimized or avoided if possible, because such steps require additional reagents and can generate waste.

9. Catalysis
Catalytic reagents (as selective as possible) are superior to stoichiometric reagents.

10. Design for Degradation
Chemical products should be designed so that at the end of their function they break down into innocuous degradation products and do not persist in the environment.

11. Real-time analysis for Pollution Prevention
Analytical methodologies need to be further developed to allow for real-time, in-process monitoring and control prior to the formation of hazardous substances.

12. Inherently Safer Chemistry for Accident Prevention
Substances and the form of a substance used in a chemical process should be chosen to minimize the potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions, and fires.

Chemical factories release effluent into the rivers of every state in the union. Of course this effluent is regulated by state and federal standards, but we, the people, can take it one step further. Putting our money in support of green chemical companies:
Seventh Generation
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals :specifically Zoloft is manufactured using green chemistry principles
Ecos Organic Paints

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forests

2005-02-08T09:03:00.000-08:00

The health of our forests in the United States and all those around the world directly affect the health of our rivers and some would argue our general well being on this planet. Although some forestland has been and is being preserved, virgin and regrowing forests at home and abroad are still threatened by logging and other natural resource exploitation interests. These precious places need our vote, our interest, sometimes our money, and a change in our lifestyle. Recycling, reusing, and reducing our use of paper and other wood based products can help us preserve what we still have today.

This video from the forest council gives an interesting perspective.

Visit Forest Council to find out more information on how you can be active and supportive of preserving forests for the future.

Stay tuned for some ways and means of using recycled wood for a variety of purposes.

sewage education

2005-02-05T10:53:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered where the holes at the bottom of your drains and toilets lead to? Well, whether you have or not, here’s a tour of the fabulous world of sewage treatment.

Hendersonville, North Carolina’s wastewater treatment plant has been in operation for three years. With a capacity of six million gallons per day, this advanced facility produces some of the cleanest effluent in the country: cleaner than the creek it releases into (BOD wise). The only time the average household user puts unneeded stress on them and the creeks they release into is by pouring cleaners and other harsh chemicals down the drain.

First the solids are removed. The plant workers find all sorts of interesting stuff in here from live snakes to plastic baggies containing mysterious powders and pills and even $100 bills. fyi: if you lose anything down the drain, don’t call up and expect anyone at the plant to fish it out for you.

The solids removed at this step are dumpstered off to the landfill.

Next the sewage is moved into two huge tanks were oxygen is bubbled in from the bottom in what is called “activated sludge” treatment.
Here’s Scott, our guide, in front of the activated sludge tanks:

This step in the process actually cleans the water the most, with NO chemicals. The micro organisms and macro invertebrates, which are already present, feed off the organic matter dissolved in the water. The oxygen bubbled in from the bottom allows them to grow and feed at maximum speed, cleaning up the water at an amazing rate. These tiny organisms are the workhorses of wastewater treatment.
Here’s an example of one of the little jammers:

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The plant uses giant electric powered motors to pump the air into the tanks.

Some plants like MSD in Asheville, North Carolina have built their own hydroelectric dams to supply the massive amount of electricity needed to power these bad boys.

Next the water visits a sand filter for further solids removal.

This one is empty at the moment; so you can get a good look at the filtering mechanisms.

The water then passes through a clarifier. The clean water rolls slowly off the top out of this tank near the end of the treatment process. Notice the change in clarity of this water compared to that of the activated sludge tanks.

From here the water will pass through a final treatment with UV lights. Some plants use chlorine gas for this step to treat the water.
Next stop the river.
Solids removed from the activated sludge, clarifier, and sand filter steps are sent to a thickner, like the one pictured below, and other water removal processes before being transported to the landfill or turned into very potent fertilizer.

You can actually pick up this fertilizer for your own personal usage, and it’s free! Just contact your local waste water treatment plant and ask; they’d be fired-up about you coming to take some away.
Yellow Pages is a great place to look for the plant near you.

greener music purchasing

2005-02-02T05:23:00.000-08:00

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LVMEnvironmental gives a full two thumbs up for the use of mp3 players and buying music online, eliminating all the packaging and shipping associated with the old way of buying music. The batteries are a big issue and should be disposed of properly: not just thrown in the trashcan and sent to the landfill.

more at home enviro--straw bale

2005-01-28T10:19:00.001-08:00

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Some really fabulous and environmentally friendly innovations aren’t new at all: straw bale as a building material for instance. This agricultural waste product may sound like something the three little pigs warned you about, but can offer some major advantages over conventional building materials.
1. Inexpensive—farmers are giving this stuff away and incinerating what they can’t get rid of. Pay some transportation costs and it’s yours.
2. Allows for a unique building style—rounded corners, exposed beams: beautiful
3. It breathes!—using plaster for your walls allows the whole house to literally breathe. That’s some great news for people with allergies and/or young children.
Worries about increased flammability, decomposition, and mold and mildew problems are non-issues. Check out Straw Building to answer some these and other frequently asked questions.
Once you’re ready and raring to go here’s some contact info on where, who, and how:
Mike Skinner . . . . 800-327-9429 (that's 1-800-EASYHAY) or easyhay@arn.net
Straw Locator
Hay Exchange

Great builders have been putting together some really amazing straw bale homes in many different locations and environments. The mountains of western North Carolina have a very wet and humid environment, but some beautiful stray bale homes can and have been built here. Check out Sustainable Structures
for perhaps the best and most personal design and construction team, if you’re ready to go all out. Tell Evan that Mefford sent you, and you’ll be in like Flin.

This is one of Evan’s very beautiful design and construction projects:

Sustainable Structures

increasing energy efficiency at home--windows

2005-01-25T13:50:00.000-08:00

Increasing the energy efficiency of a home can be the first step towards a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. Windows can be a big area where energy is lost: energy especially from either heating or cooling the home. Look for high R value/low U value
Here are some tips to help make your windows less of an energy suck:
1. Control your air leaks—caulking and weather stripping work great and are cheap, but replacing the window frame can be
just as cost effective
2. Buy double pane glass windows—we’re going for high R values/low U values here
3. Wood framing—has higher R value than aluminum and are more environmentally friendly than vinyl.
4. Storm Windows can also make a cheap and energy saving alternative
5. Glazing materials
a. Low-emissivity glass (low-e)
b. Heat-absorbing glass
c. Reflective glass: help with controlling heat gain during the summer
d. Argon gas filled: increases R value

Images from
Fine Home Building

renovating the castle--green style

2005-01-20T16:27:00.000-08:00

So you’re making some improvements on your home. That's great, because more than a third of the energy use in the US occurs in the residential sector. Whether they are big changes or little ones, this is an ideal to green-up your home. Recently some great energy and water saving appliances have entered the market at competitive prices. Like clothes washers and dryers, dishwashers, solar hot water heaters, refrigerators, and more. Look for the energy star for all appliances.

When scoping out a washing machine for your clothes, consider some front-loading models. Front loaders use less water, because the tub doesn’t have to fill all the way up. These machines also spin faster; so the clothes come out requiring less time in the dryer.
Refrigerators have come a long way in the last few years, and today’s models are so much more efficient. That old ‘fridge is an electricity black hole and can cost an extra $100 a year or more to keep it around.
Solar hot water heaters are also great, especially if you live somewhere with ample sunlight. These babies work the best in areas in the southwestern States. If you’d rather just jump straight into power generation: look for photovoltaic units. They're good all over and can make stylish and functional roofing.

Check out this site for more info about setting up photovoltaic and other solar technologies at your own home:
Solar Depot
Furniture is also a biggie. Companies like Green Sage ( Green Sage ) and Ikea ( Ikea ) have been working progressively toward a more environmentally friendly production of their goods and catalogs. Of course there is also the option of buying used furniture: preventing some big items from making that inevitable trip to the landfill.

Wow organically grown hemp covering these items. Beautiful.

first 'zine article

2005-01-20T15:15:00.000-08:00

photo by Shanna Powell

A top ten list for the next ‘Zine. My idea was more people are likely to look at and read a top ten list rather than an article, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't read the article as well. Daniel was all about it; so here it is along with the two adjoining photos.

The top ten things to do right now to help lessen your environmental impact
1. Use compact florescent light bulbs: These babies are amazing. Get them at the hardware store: they fit all size sockets, use way less energy, last much longer (like years), and will save you money. Bitchin’.
2. Turn off all appliances when not using them: This may seem like a no-brainer but can make a big difference. Lights, computers, everything.
3. Insulate your hot water heater: Another biggie. Because of water’s high specific heat, lots of energy is required to keep that water hot. A little insulation can make a big impact (on your energy bill, too). You can also turn down the water heater’s temperature a few degrees: anything over 115 degrees can be excessive and wasteful.
4. Walk or bike on short trips: Good for you, good for the environment; what’s not to like?
5. Use BioDiesel or other alternative fuels: if you have a diesel car that is. Check out lvmenvironmental.blogspot.com or biodiesel.org to find out when, where, why and how.
6. Carpool: Even if it’s just once a week, ridesharing can be worth the extra effort and sacrifice. Long Range or short range. Check out: www.erideshare.com or www.carpoolconnect.com
7. Use public transportation: A great one for a stress free night on the town or any time or you can manage: even if you only go every so often. One trip helps.
8. Buy organic foods: Pesticides are bad; for you, for me, for everybody.
9. Spend your money in the neighborhood: Locally owned business keep the money around the area and can help limit big industry and the need for outside goods brought in on trucks.
10. Steer clear of fast food: Genetically engineered potatoes and other sci-fi vegetables; industrially grown, hormone and anti-biotic injected meats; need we say more. These chains actually make a pretty substantially negative ecological impact; not to mention the impact on your person. Check out Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser; it’ll blow your hair back.
To purchase, "Fast Food Nation" =>
Click Here

photo by Amos Shuman

calculate your impact

2005-01-14T18:41:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered what kind of environmental impact you were actually making? Well, there is a way to estimate how heavy your footsteps feel to Mother Earth. Recently some websites have popped-up that can quantify through a simple questionnaire what your “ecological footprint” is and how it relates to other individuals living elsewhere around the globe.
The results can be pretty humbling and hopefully inspiring as well.=>
Click Here

getting to the pump--BioDiesel

2005-01-14T16:23:00.000-08:00

“Great,” you say. “I’m convinced. Let’s do it.” Converting you car to run on used vegetable oil, now we’ll get into the ways and means of the process. To convert the oil from the local restaurant is a relatively easy process that any ambitious person can get into within his or her own garage and will certainly be a topic of later posts. Immersion Research, the leading paddler’s gear and clothing manufacturer, currently has a set-up within their factory in Pennsylvania. Also, BioDiesel Co-ops are popping up all over the country and can be a great local source for fuel. Locally, here in Asheville..... (Stay tuned for an update with directions; for now contact Brian and Solon: info@blueridgebiofuels.com) The National Biodiesel Board is a good place to look for distributors and sources within your own area, as well as (believe it or not) retail filing areas. Looking for retail filling areas and other places to buy your very own fryer fuel? Click Here
Don’t worry that your backing yourself into a corner by converting your existing diesel only engine, because you will still be able to run your car entirely on dinosaur juice if need be. Also, old junkers and the brand new VW TDI’s alike can equally be converted. So don’t be scared that your engine is exempt, because it’s not. Some newer vehicles, like the fancy new TDI pictured above, come vege-ready; everyone else will have to convert their engine. The only conversion associated with long-term biodiesel usage in older vehicles (pre-1995) is the changing of natural rubber parts in the fuel delivery system to synthetic materials. These parts are usually found as seals and hoses on the injector pump and fuel tank. Parts are very cheap and labor would take a couple of hours. That’s right; running on fryer juice is that easy.
Look, BioDiesel is so easy, not even old people are confused.
Some more good news that may help you motivate to track down your local grease pump is some tax incentives. That’s right you skeptics: George W. Bush has signed into law the first BioDiesel tax incentive program, part of a larger goal of increasing domestic energy security. Which, to this author at least, is a much better move than drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. To find out more about more information and eligibility requirements: Click Here
Frankly, BioDiesel is so exciting everyone is talking about it,; just listen to Willie Nelson and Niel Young. Click Here

For more information or general inquiries concerning the huge subject of biodiesel as a fuel, I recommend visiting this site: Click Here

Image from
Sunlight Solar

getting into BioDiesel

2005-01-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

The 2003 Volkswagen Jetta TDI, Biodiesel ready rig (42 mpg regular diesel, too).
To read a Canadian Driver review of the TDI, Click Here

Daniel and I have been talking about biodiesel from the very beginning of this misadventure, because unless you are willing to make some serious sacrifices, you need a car. As kayakers, especially, we are bound to our fossil fuel powered vehicles to transport us to and from the river. More often than not we need them for shuttle as well: that’s at least two gas-guzzlers for each boating venture. We can choose to drive more fuel-efficient cars, but that may be a difficult choice for some.
Hark! Another option exists: BioDiesel.
BioDiesel is essentially a combustible fuel refined from cooking oil that can be run in modified diesel engines. Just like petroleum, the same reaction occurs: the combustion of a carbon chain in the presence of oxygen with the byproducts being carbon dioxide and water.
Now you may say that C02 is a green house gas, and this isn’t that big of a step forward. However when considering the source of the fuels as they relate to carbon cycles; there is a big difference between the two fuels. The gas we use to power our cars comes from oil, which has been mined from the ground. This oil is essentially fossilized organic matter (carbon chains) from millions of years in the past. The carbon that makes up this organic matter was initially atmospheric: carbon dioxide; plants take in CO2, produce tissue, and emit oxygen as a waste. So the carbon dioxide that is coming out of our tail pipes is just being reintroduced into the grand carbon cycle. The problem is we are putting this fossilized carbon back into the atmosphere at a much faster rate (like millions of times faster) than the earth can take it back in: the fossilization process takes quite a while.
The carbon chains in vegetable oil are on a much shorter carbon cycle; the carbon dioxide produced during its combustion was taken out of the atmosphere very recently; so the net impact of its reintroduction is much smaller.

To watch a commercial about biodiesel from Choren Industries GmbH =>
Click Here

To learn more about Choren Industries =>
Click Here

Another big advantage, in polluting terms, is BioDiesel combustion produces no sulfur oxide compounds. Sulfur oxide compounds are a major component of acid rain (hence forth to be referred to as acid deposition: the new fancy term) and smog. Sulfur dioxide is a hydrophilic molecule, meaning it draws in water molecules, and in turn disperses light. This affect can be seen here especially in the southeastern US with our decreasing visibility. Also the acids formed by SO2, sulfurous and sulfuric, are very strong and their affects on vegetation can been readily seen at high elevations.

The trees atop Mt. Mitchell and Clingman’s Dome show their scars from acid deposition.

the beginning

2005-01-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

Welcome to lvm’s environmental action corner. Before you write us off as just another bunch of green elitists, consider: This is not just another group of environmentalists standing on a soap box, preaching about how and why things need to change. We are not prima donnas. We are, however, very enthusiastic about the environmental issues of the day and our ability and opportunity to make a positive impact. This blog will journal the collaboration between an environmental scientist and the kayaking media conglomerate, LVM. Our goals are simple:

1. To bring to the forefront all aspects of the unavoidable relationship between the natural environment and those individuals who enjoy it, specifically whitewater kayakers.

2. To highlight the methods which environmentally conscious individuals within the whitewater community are using to make a positive difference.

3. To introduce to as many people as possible the ways and means of living a more conservative lifestyle.

4. To make being green easy and cool.
Using lvm’s status as an established media outlet, we hope to show people through video segments, magazine articles, and websites how to make a positive impact. In our first project, for example, we want to connect people with the resources and information to switch their cars over to biodeisel, while telling the story of a person or business that already has.
So join us for a journey into something new and exciting. See and learn how easy you too can make a positive impact on the natural environment that we as kayakers have grown to love and enjoy.