Article 8: Sustainable Bikes

Sustainable Bikes Worth The Pedal?

Being currently in the market for a bicycle and being a college student my first thought was to scavenge Craigslist. However it got me thinking, is anyone making a sustainable bike? Well the answer is yes! Recently a company called Bamboosero is developing a sustainable bamboo bike. Now you may be saying bamboo bikes have been around forever what makes this any different? They are different in that the company is actually a non profit. Basically this company acts like a third party that is helping people in developing countries make bikes to their specifications so that they can sell them to the general public in more developed countries. The idea is we will pay a premium for hand made quality bikes and the family's who learn how to make these bikes though Bamboosero prosper and expand their bike making business. Not only that but bamboo is typically a very sustainable material. Growing in many regions and very quickly. If this company can convince one city to simply make bikes rather then destroy their environment they have succeed in my mind. All that being said the price as it stand right now seems a bit to steep for me running in at around 900 dollars for just frame.

Article: http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/20/africa/booomers-bamboo-bicycles-ghana/

Webpage: http://www.bamboosero.com/

Article 7: Sustainable Homes

Sustainable or Barging Rights?

Waste House

With the green trend exploding in the last few years. we are starting to see people thinking about sustainability when building homes. The real question is though if they are trying to look green "green washing" for barging rights or are they really focused on making a green home? I took a look at an article about the top 10 sustainable houses to find out.

ZEB Pilot House

What I found was a combination of both. In some causes the houses they talked about where piratical, small homes that fulfilled a need of shelter. Such as the Waste House which was constructed from 90% recycled material. Everything from toothbrushes, DVD cases, floppy disks, to used carpet was utilized to make this interesting home.

While at the other end of the spectrum we have homes such as the ZEB Pilot house. This house while featuring a very impressive solar power system, simply isn't sustainable. The materials alone needed to make the home probably had a huge impact on the environment. Not to mention how un-sustainable heating the massive pool is.


Overall there where more sustainable homes then houses i would qualify as green wash and many of them took some very difficult problems and solved them in a unique way.

For more information on these houses look here:
http://www.gizmag.com/gizmag-top-10-sustainable-innovative-green-houses/34712/

Ecological Footprint Update

Ecological Update

What an improvement! I realize that the improvement may only be 1.7 earths and I am still consuming far too much, but its progress. Its still crazy to think that according to this quiz if everyone consumed as much as me we would need almost 4 earths. The good news is that my goals worked! I have reduced almost all consumption categories except for the food category. I believe that the reason for this is simply because the quiz didn't have a option that represented my goal of eating vegetarian one day a week. That being said I was able to actually complete that goal. In-fact I was able to follow through with all of my goals. With moderate to great success.

Goal 1: Unplug Powerstrips 

My first goal which was to reduce my power usage was moderately successful. Over the last few months I have been turning off 3 powerstrips that powered my computer, TV, phone chargers, printer, PS4(console). Doing this every night and when I leave town has lead to a 3 dollar decrease in my power bill which equates to about 8.5% decrease in power. Which is .5% higher than my updated goal. I believe that the goal to unplug unused electronics is something I could easily do in the future. 

Goal 2: Walk to campus

My second goal was to reduce my carbon footprint which was a huge success. Over the last few months I have been walking almost everywhere including to and from campus. This has lead to a huge reduction in my carbon footprint which was my highest category. Infact i believe it was this lifestyle change that lead to at least a earths reduction. In the future i believe that this goal my be difficult to persue. The reason for this is I am unsure of how far I will be from my next job.

Goal 3: Eat vegetarian once a week

My Last goal was to eat vegetarian one day a week. What a realized while doing this goal was I already did this unconsciously at least once a week. This did not have an impact on my food footprint however. This is because the quiz simply didn't take small lifestyle changes like this into consideration when evaluating. I believe I could pursue this goal in the feature and even expand it to twice a week.

In the end this project was really eye opening and I plan on continuing to reduce ghost power and to eat vegetarian. I believe that by continuing these goals I will make new goals for myself.