Project: DIY BioDiesel!

Ohmygosh. I can't stand it. I was going to stop blogging after the last post because I really have to get some class reading done but I stopped by this Blogspot site on my way out and became entranced.

Named simply Biodiesel, the blog starts off with the top 10 reasons why you should make your own biodiesel. Then it takes you to a list of articles by the author of the blog, a Mr. Then, where, among other things, you can learn the best games to play at a child's birthday party. I found the link to the article on making your own bathtub biodiesel (not the real name but it should be) and it sounds even scarier to make than cold-process soap. Anti-freeze? Lye? Yow!

Who is this mysterious Mr. Then, who simultaneously unlocks the secrets to party games and homemade biodiesel? Perhaps the world is not ready to know the answer.

Swiped photo from Biodiesel blogspot blog. Thank you, Mr. Then.

Biking because I like it

Just got the old Schwinn back from the mechanic's today -- the rear hub is still bumpy but they couldn't do anything for it. It is so nice to ride it again, and today was the day when I needed a tank bike, riding through the orange and blue-clad throngs of Gator fandom to get to work.

I've been thinking a lot about commuting by bike, especially since these two things have occurred: I am supposed to write short responses on three eco-friendly activities for REL4936, one of these being commuting by bike and; our little Honda Fit is not so fit after a smack-up last weekend so we've been driving my in-laws' humongous SUV.

In this blog I've talked the talk about commuting to campus by bicycle and wanting to commute by bike with DJ. Even after getting the ride-along working properly and DJ becoming acclimated to it, I still never took that step to taking him to his preschool on campus via bicycle. Now he goes to a school that's not as close to campus, but still not that far, either. I did a Mapquest calculation of how long the commute would be to DJ's school by bike and it's almost 4 miles. Then it's probably another couple of miles to campus from there. This is not bad but it would take a little more planning.

By now, commuting to campus by bike is like nothing for me, so writing that short response for my class would be a piece of cake, normally. But I want to do something more so I think for this part of the assignment I'm going to write about taking DJ to his school and then mine on one of the days that I would normally take him by car. Planning out a route would be the first step, so I went to Bikely.com and created a route that I thought would be the best way to get there. I wasn't too far off in my estimate -- 6.5 miles one way. Ouch. Okay, 13 miles round trip, I can do that -- the real question is, will DJ want to do that...

I like WikiHow because people write how-to's on things like how to clean your room -- I just read that one, in fact, and it was very instructive. I also just read one on How to Commute By Bicycle and it was really a good read, and for anyone ready to take the plunge and commute this way, it's a good place to start. Another good article to read for planning is How to Not Get Hit By Cars, a handy little e-pamphlet connected to Bicycle Universe out of Austin, TX.

Snaked the image for this bumper sticker from Microcosm Publishing

Raking in the Clover

Monday, before picking DJ up from school, I got out the bag of white clover seed I had bought at the feed and seed over the weekend and raked some of it into the front patch of sand in front of our house. At one time I had the bright idea of filling in a patch of dirt by our front door, that DJ insisted on digging in, with play sand. This was a brilliant plan which provided DJ with an excellent dump truck area -- for about five minutes, until the neighborhood cats discovered it and decided to use it for a different kind of dumping. So hopefully we'll get the much-needed rain that was promised today (and still, as of this posting, has yet to arrive) and maybe fill in some of that sand with clover. I have no idea if this is possible but as a first foray into sprouting clover where it is desperately needed on our lawn, I felt this was a good place to start. After the old man mows this weekend I'll begin raking in the next batch of seed and see what happens.

The 10 Dollar Compost Bin

I finally bit the proverbial bullet and heighed myself to the local plastic crap store and bought the cheapest plastic garbage can I could find (and I realize this totally blows my compact to not buy any new cheap plastic crap, now matter how beneficial to our household). On Sunday afternoon I went to work sawing off the bottom while DJ sat on the can to steady it, insuring that it would never be used for anything other than a compost bin. I really wish I had a working camera right now to document with photos but you're just going to have trust me. By the time I had accomplished this DJ was aching to use the saw so I helped him saw down a small weed tree trying to crowd out an azalea bush. By the time this was accomplished DJ was hot and bored and went inside to watch the second volume of Gatchaman in the AC while I dug out the little-used awl and hammer.

I got as far as pounding one hole into the side of the bin (it is a pretty tough cheap plastic garbage can) before realizing that I would need nigh on one thousand of these holes and risked incurring the wrath of my neighbors, who are generally a quiet, peaceable people but are not above throwing an old shoe or tin can at someone making an insane racket in their driveway. Leaving the bottom on would have provided more stability in making said hole but, alas, design issues like that are best left to the engineers.

So much for the lo-tech strategy; now I have to dig out a pair of safety goggles and find a time when I can drag out the power drill. I got the idea from the City of Nashville's page on Composting but I can't find the part where you have to bury it 6 inches into the ground -- I know I got that idea from somewhere, but I'm going to do it anyway and see what happens.

Global Ecological Footprint Calculator

Here is another footprint calculator, also through Redifining Progress. I like this one because it calculates your footprint as you move through the questions, which is great if you want to weasle on any questions that don't fit in with your reality.

Here's the link to the original post on eco footprints -- I'm going to write another post on this because I so totally lied on the first one and, since doing these is an assignment for REL4936 this semester I'm going to actually have to be kinda honest...

Bagels and Packaging and Bracketology

Because obviously I have nothing better to do right now I finally decided on the best bagel place near campus based on taste (natch), ease of use, and least amount of packaging per purchase. Bagels Unlimited came out ahead of the pack, as you can see from my laborious efforts to graphically exemplify Bagels Unlimited's superiority.