Practical Eco

ScanGauge II acts like a kill-a-watt for cars

It's a bit like a "kill-a-watt" for cars. The ScanGauge II shows you your MPG in real-time helping you learn how to drive more efficiently and improve your gas mileage and reduce costs.

The ScanGauge II plugs into most cars and provides real-time data directly from your car's engine, such as:

• Fuel Economy (MPG)
• Battery Voltage
• Coolant Temperature
• Intake Air Temperature
• Engine Speed (RPM)

It's a programmable 3-in-1 automotive trip computer, diagnostic scan tool, and up to 37 digital gauges in one.  It works on all 1996 or newer OBDII cars, including gas, diesel, propane and hybrid vehicles (though my Prius already has this information on display). It's easy to install without tools and since it's small it fits nearly anywhere.

The First Carrboro Urban Farm Tour Sat. Sep 13th, 3-8pm

Local sources of food is an important part of sustainability. Locally sourced means less transport. It also keeps money in the local economy and it helps keep people in touch with the real sources of food. It's great to know the chickens thay lay the eggs you eat, or to have some kind of relationship with the land where you vegetables were grown. Urban farming can be a key way to not only have healthier local food, but greatly reduce unnecessary carbon emissions and petroleum use.

Carrboro is showing off the dozens of great efforts within its town limits that practice sustainable farming.  People are keeping bees, raising chickens, and tending gardens that sustainably produce delicious healthy food.

WHEN : This Saturday Sep 13, 2008 from 3-8pm.
WHERE: The starting point is 200 E. Poplar Ave, Carrboro, NC. (on the corner of Ashe and Poplar. )

The tour consists of over 10 sites in town, and several skill-shares workshops including harvesting honey, buiding deer-proof fencing, water catchment, and much more!

Bring your bike, some walking shoes, a local food dish and we'll do the rest!-- the Urban Blue-Bike program will also be on hand with some bikes to loan.

Potluck begins sometime after 6.

For more info : carrborogreenspace.org;
email: carrborogreenways (at) riseup.org
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Household cleaning needs greening too

We've long been avoiding mainstream cleaning products at out home. Largely this is because my wife as a health therapist recognized the toxic effects of many of the common products. So we've gone out of our way to use baking soda and vinegar as mainstays of our cleaning routine. 

For many people who hire outside cleaners it's still a challenge to get them to use anything but name-brand chemical cleaners. The long onslaught of marketing messages designed to get us to buy cleaners that make life easier has taken its toll. Fortunately, some of the cleaning companies are starting to wake up to the real issues now.

Maid Brigade is one of the bigger ones that cleans green. They use only safe green cleaning agents and products that contain no harsh chemicals, toxins or carcinogens. Maid Brigade even use color coded microfiber cloths as part of their process and a four-stage filtration vacuum that removes harmful allergens from the air in your home as it cleans your floor.

Maid Brigade has also launched a useful and educational site www.greencleancertified.com with lots of great tips on cleaning your home without harsh chemicals. It features green living expert Annie Bond and even offers a way to ask Annie questions about green cleaning and green living.

Spray Foam insulation for retrofits

Almost any exisiting structure whether commercial or residential can benefit from a green retrofit. A green retrofit means increase property value, quicker sales and happier occupants. It also means lower energy bills.

Of all the projects you can undertake in a green retrofit, the number one in terms of return on investment has to be insulation. Some would say it's the number two and three as well.

When it comes to insulation you need to know the term R-Value. If you don't already know it R-value measures the material's resistance to heat transfer. The higher the number the slower heat will pass from one side to the other. But, like so many things, it's just not that simple in real life. R19 insulation may seem better than R13 insulation in the laboratory or on paper, but I've known plenty of R13 walls that perform 2 to 3 times better than another R19 wall.

The most effective form of insulation when it comes to energy efficiency is spray-on polyurethane foam - or just "spray foam". And the most established and well known brand in that area is Icynene. Compared to typical fiberglass batts, Icynene spray foam is far more effective because it seals the space tight. Fiberglass is not an air barrier. Look at old batts in an older house and you'll see darkening and discoloration from the air it has "filtered" leaking into the house. I recently pulled some off the underside of my floors and it was black around the air ducts. Ick! Stop the air leaks and you save energy. But you do need to balance that with supplying clean fresh air in the right amount (7.5 cubic feet per minute per occupant is usually enough) to the house.

Typically older homes will opt to spray the attic and if they have one, the crawlspace.  On a retrofit basis Icycnene spray foam can cut electricity bills around 30-40 percent.