Ecolonomic Life

Well, it has taken us awhile to write about it, but our Fourth Annual Celebrate Sustainability Event at Mountain Sky Ranch was a huge success.  We had beautiful weather, great attendance, and a good time was had by all.  We had a handful of vendors and exhibitors, and we filled the day with tours, lectures and our famously good raffle give-aways.  And, as last year we capped off the amazing day with almost three hours of blues and other awesome music from Davey and the Blue Dog.

A highlight was our newly operating commercial scale Feed in a Box system, where we are now producing over 1000 lb. per day of delicious livestock micro-greens (sometimes called fodder).  We have a 40 foot long shipping container that has been used for our building for our proprietary system.  Dustin Dorband designed this incredible system, and we have now been successfully operating it and getting daily nutritious livestock feed for over two months.

There were hayrides for the kids, fishing all day in the ponds and a recycled box building center.  Several young folks caught their first fish ever.  What a joy.  The baby alpacas were a treat to see and guests were able to see our aquaponics systems functioning also.

We are looking forward to year five in 2013 and many years to come.  Come and visit us when you get a chance.

US driving habits contribute to the carbon footpint

It can’t be stressed enough the importance of reducing your carbon foot print, but the task can be daunting and if not undertaken correctly, overwhelming. I want to list some simple things that you can do to reduce that foot print, not break the budget (and even expand it), and relieve levels of stress.

First, let’s talk energy. You don’t need to run out and buy solar panels or wind turbines in order to save energy. There are many simple things that will help reduce the amount of energy that you use. Turn off the lights. It may seem too simple, but it helps. If you aren’t using the light or if you leave the room, flip the switch. If you aren’t pumping electricity to your house then the power plant supplying your electricity isn’t burning as much fossil fuels. Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. They are a little more money, but they last longer and don’t use as much energy. Work with the least amount of light that you need. When you are on a laptop make sure you have it on the energy saving. This will reduce the amount of electricity it uses and will save the battery for longer use. Lastly, replace old appliances with ones that have an energy star rating. This is a little more costly, but you find a significant change in your utilities bills. (more…)

Fighting climate change has not been at the top of some oil industries list. For some, it could be found at the bottom of their list. Exxon Mobil, one of the nation’s largest oil companies, has pushed climate change to the top of their list. This could be a huge step for the oil industry as a whole. Exxon is investing $600 million dollars in the research and development of algae based fuel, sometimes called in oil industry “oilgae.” Exxon has been known and criticized as an oil company that doesn’t care about its impact on the climate. The same people who have criticized them for not caring are questioning whether the company will actually do something with this research. Exxon has admitted that this will be a slow process that could take five to ten years before being implemented. If they do follow through with this program there is no telling where the oil industry will go. This could be one of the greatest steps for alternative energy. (more…)