Is It Past Time to Jettison the Cargo?

After driving to a destination, you leave your vehicle and go take your belongings with you.  However some of the items in your car are staying in the car.  Perhaps your hands are too full and you can't make a second trip back to the car.  Whatever the reason is, the stuff in the car is staying put.

If it is possible, you should take the extra cargo out.  According to the US Department of Energy, there is an approximate loss of 2 percent of your vehicle's miles per gallon for every 100 pounds of extra weight in your car. 

This may not sound like a big deal.  My old car gets about 22 miles per gallon of gasoline in city driving.  100 excessive pounds in my car reduces my mpg by .44 mpg and now I'm only getting 21.56 miles per gallon.  I lose just under half a mile of driving on that gallon of gasoline.  If I leave that stuff in the car and keep driving, I waste more gasoline, spend more money, and pollute more.

                  Normal 22 MPG                          vs.         21.56 MPG due to 100 extra pounds
I can go 220 miles on 10 gallons of gas.                        I can go 215.6 miles on 10 gallons of gas.
With 100 gallons of gas, I can go 2200 miles.               With 100 gallons of gas, I can go 2156 miles
With 200 gallons of gas, I can go 4400 miles.               With 200 gallons of gas, I can go 4312 miles.

While the difference is not great, even considering driving for longer periods, it is still important to reduce our energy consumption.  The next time you exit your vehicle, consider taking everything out with you.  If many, many people reduce the extra weight in their car, the effect would truly become beneficial. 

Saving the Environment, One Library Book at a Time

We are in the midst of a major cleaning event on the homestead.  Maybe you've experienced it yourself.  Someone, or more than one someone, has an overwhelming urge to clean out all of the clutter.  Our urge has been born out from the desire to simplify our lives with less clutter and consequently, less picking up. Many families throw the discarded items in the trash, give them away to friends or family, donate to charity, or have a garage sale.  For us, it will be the last option.

In the midst of all of our cleaning, we have discarded very few books and slightly more DVDs.  Everyone in the house is an avid reader and we do own plenty of books.

Over the past few years, we have purchased very few books and instead go to our local library.  When I think about it, we have reread few of the books of we own.  Additionally, there are few movies and shows that we have watched a second or third time.  So with that in mind, we only purchase books or DVDs that we feel we will use multiple times.  For everything else, we go to the library.

Why the library?  To begin with, you've already paid for it.  Libraries are often supported through local and state taxes.  If you own a home, part of your taxes supports your library.  If you rent, your landlord paid the taxes with money he collected from you in the form of rent.  Since you have paid, why not use it?

By going to your local library, you will lower your impact on the Earth by reusing items from the "commons".  Today, I checked out The Hobbit after being on a reserved list.  When I signed up for it, I was the 42nd person in the queue.  My library has six copies of the movie.  Instead of 42 copies being purchased, only six were.  There are thirty six copies that do not need to be shipped halfway around the world.  When we use the library, it means less pollution, trash, and packaging,  It also means more money saved in our pockets (assuming you don't have late fees).  Then imagine if a million people, or even better, 100 million people used their local library instead of buying a copy of each movie or book that they want.  What a difference that would make. 

I Just Mowed the Lawn. Now What?

Now what indeed?  Leave it where it lies.  Why rake it, blow it, or bag it when you could use that time to enjoy your yard instead?  Grass clippings decompose quickly and will return nutrients back to the soil.  By doing this, you will drastically reduce the amount of compost or fertilizer your yard will require.

If you insist on raking up the grass clippings, place it in your compost.  Or let the clippings dry out in a mesh bag.  When they have turned yellowish brown, use the clippings as a locally sourced mulch.  If you do not let the grass dry before you mulch, you run the risk of having too much nitrogen being emitted into the soil.  Too much nitrogen at once can harm the plants that you are encouraging to grow.

As a final note of caution about using grass clipping for mulch or placing them in the compost bin, only use grass that has not had any synthetic chemicals added to it.  Conventional soil fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides could potentially damage or kill plants and beneficial species that help to sustain your micro ecosystem.

April Showers Bring Grass to Mow

Many Americans like to have a green space around their homes.  Often, that green space is a sea of grass.  While that green space is pleasant to view, walk on, and play in; it usually requires mowing.  A simple thing that homeowners can do is to mow their yards with a reel mower.  If you are not a homeowner, encourage your landlord to use one or hire a landscaping company that does.  Even offer to use the reel mower if necessary.

Using a reel mower provides great benefits.  Because there is no gasoline or electricity being used, you are not generating any additional carbon dioxide.  The up front cost of a reel mower is usually less than a powered mower as well.  Everytime I use the mower,  I am saving money by not consuming fossil fuels or electricity.

Pushing a reel mower is a great form of exercise and is sure to raise your heart rate.  Having a reel mower also means you have fewer working parts that may need to be replaced, saving you time and money as well as reducing the amount of garbage in the landfill.  Speaking of reducing waste, using a reel mower means no more gas cans, oil cans, and cleaning up gasoline spills from when you filled up.

When I use my reel mower, I enjoy how quiet it is.  I can mow the grass at 7:00 AM on a Saturday morning and my neighbors do not mind.  I've even had lengthy conversations on the phone while mowing the lawn.  How many of us can do that while riding on or pushing a powered lawn mower?

While reel mowers are great for your health, the environment, and your wallet, there are downsides to using a reel mower.  Before you mow, it is important to pick up any sticks in the yard since a stick can stop a reel mower cold.  You will also need to keep the blades sharp and oiled.  Before I mow, I place a small amount of vegetable oil on a paper towel and wipe the sharp edges of the blades as well as the cutting bar.  Finally, you may need to make adjustments to the cutting bar to be sure the mower cuts well.  The owners manual should explain how to do this.  A lawn mower repair shop can help you as well.

Good luck with your mowing and enjoy the quiet, fresh air, exercise, and saving when you mow.