Monday, November 24, 2008
Getting Ready for a Recession
What goes up in a Recession? It’s no joke that the answer, unfortunately, is crime.In the United Kingdom, it’s the same story from a Scottish perspective. The Observer claims its analysis of official English figures show a jump in burglaries coinciding with the economic downturn with some jurisdictions reporting an increase of over twenty percent.
Now is a great time to count your blessings and your belongings. A home inventory could be your best ally if property crime starts to rise and you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having to make a burglary insurance claim or worse, in the event of a disaster.
Burglars Tools Found in the Bank
printed in 1875, Canadian Illustrated News
Claimants regularly under-report or otherwise don't get full value for their insurance claim due to a lack of receipts and paperwork. Expect to pay around a couple of hundred bucks to hire a home inventory service to come to your place and tally up your stuff -- if you don't want to do it all yourself. Something worth considering since it only takes missing out on a few items around your house in an insurance claim to exceed the cost of the inventory.
Labels: disaster insurance, home inventory, preparedness, recession
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Urban Food Composting, Wanting to Waste Not
The common black dome of the urban composter handles a significant amount of urban green waste and raw vegetable material from the residential kitchen.
But even with the urban recycling economy of the binner and municipalities who pick up plastic and glass recycling, the problem of what to do with food waste remains a roadblock to the self-cleaning modern home.
Despite the possible benefit of urban animal husbandry in disposing of leftovers, a city-approved backyard resurgence of the magical animal that turns leftovers and other food waste into bacon, ham, chops, and sausages seems unlikely. Uneaten food can’t be recycled or re-used and ends up headed straight for the landfill.
Spurring Jeff Malmgren to seek answers was the problem of what to do with the poo? The appearance of a small white dog in his life, along with his new partner, got him thinking about just how much crap goes in the garbage.
His search for a solution led him to the Green Cone food waste digester. A plastic cone that sits in a hole in your backyard and turns food waste into nutrient-rich water and a sludge pile that has to be emptied every couple of years.
Anyone with a backyard can use a Green Cone. Some users are claiming better gardens from the nutrient rich liquid that is absorbed by the surrounding soil. Malmgren cautions however, that Green Cones used to deal with animal feces need to be safely away from food growing areas.
The Green Cone breaks down discarded food through an aerobic, macrobiotic, solar-powered process fueled by the sun’s rays on the black outer casing and a starter seeding of the waste-eating bacteria. Green Cone proponents hope to follow the British example, which saw municipalities funding the cones, while non-profit organizations handled local distribution
for a portion of the funding.
Where to get one:Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre
Victoria, B.C.
Victoria, B.C.
Surrey/White Rock – Metro Vancouver
Huron Park, Ontario
Labels: animal waste disposal, food waste composting, green cone, pigs, urban food waste, urban gardening, urban waste management
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Do It Yourself Cycling Fashion
Momentum magazine hosted a sewing workshop for cyclists on Saturday, Nov. 8. On hand to teach participants how they can recycle old sweaters and dress slacks into stylish arm warmers and cycling knickers was Nan Eastep of B Spoke Tailor. Here's some highlights of the fun, and an interview with Nan about her company and its products.
Labels: B Spoke tailor, bikes, clothes, cycling, fashion, Momentum magazine
Monday, November 3, 2008
Making The Most of Micro Homes
Sixty-four square feet isn’t much. But when that space has a roof, walls, a door, and a lock, it’s a big step up for someone living on the street. It’s also the square footage of the micro-homes on display on Granville Island until November 14, as part of the design project undertaken by industrial design students from Emily Carr University and students from the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Advanced Wood Processing program.Called Homes For Less, the project required the students to come up with compact living spaces that could be built for under $1500. Recycled materials are used, as well as pine-beetle wood for the frames of the structures. Four units are on display, each one showing some creative solutions to the challenge of living in a space smaller than the bathroom of your average McMansion. The compact living environments are designed to be built on-site, can be assembled using simple tools, and utilize an innovative screw-in foundation. Small clusters of these compact living spaces would be put on unused government land, with residents sharing a communal bathroom and kitchen.
Solutions such as Homes For Less may not be the ultimate answer to homelessness, but it’s a creative solution worth trying. Not only could these small spaces serve the homeless, they could also make ideal summer cabins, home offices, or individual living spaces for intentional communities. It’s easy to imagine a savvy entrepreneur, turning these designs into a profitable, eco-friendly niche market. If a commercial market for micro-houses could help finance initiatives (perhaps through royalties or licensing fees) to give homeless individuals an option more palatable than tents in parks, or dangerous, crowded shelters, the students behind this project will have clearly demonstrated the truth inherent in the most-time honoured principle of design. Less is more. In this case, more homes and less needless suffering.Labels: canadian charter of rights, emily carr university, granville island, home design, homeless shelters, university of british columbia
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