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Make it work, make it last, make it do or do without!

drskip — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:19:53 +0000

This is the fifth and last article in the series called ˜New ways of doing old things”.
We all have heard the old saying ˜We’ve always done it that way”. Many times there is a good reason for doing the way it has always been done – it works. But, as Bob Dylan said ˜The times they are a changing” and how we do things is going to change with it. With global warming and all its concomitant effects, some of us are starting to think in ways that are new to us.

In the last column we talked about how we might judge our lives based not upon how much we have but rather upon what we did. Keeping what we have in working order and learning how to maintain it is very important to most of us.
We have already seen this trend developing and in the future there will be more of it. Over the last ten or so years we’ve seen a good bit of this sort of thing – look at the rise of the mega home improvement store.

Some people say this came about because an aging American male population needed a way to prove itself. Since running marathons and hang gliding weren’t in the cards anymore, building a new deck or laying tile took its place. Do-it-yourself (DIY) sites on the Internet have increased markedly since the dot-com bubble burst and the equity in our homes went into full retreat.

Maintaining the most of what you have while learning new skills has taken on a double meaning, beyond graybeard macho, as the cost of energy, insurance and basic necessities continue to hit new highs.

We will see individual, neighborhood and community garden plots spring up as energy costs and the use of crops for ethanol production pushes up the price of food.

Gardens and home improvement will no longer be the pastime of sunshine environmentalists and goodtime Charlies. People will need to make ends meet and these will be a couple of ways to do it.

For many homeowners and people out of a job the new mantra of their lives will become: Make it work, make it last, make it do or do without!

Think Global – Act Local!

Teach your children well

drskip — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:02:03 +0000

This is the fourth article in the series called ˜New ways of doing old things”.

We all have heard the old saying ˜We’ve always done it that way”. Many times there is a good reason for doing the way it has always been done – it works. But, as Bob Dylan said ˜The times they are a changing” and how we do things is going to change with it.

With global warming and all its concomitant effects, some of us are starting to think in ways that are new to us.

In the last column we talked about less being the new more, when people might choose not to put their money into the latest thing – whatever that might be.

In a new era where we don’t judge ourselves and aren’t judged based on how much we have, we might start looking at how we live and what we do with our lives as a benchmark for success.

In the late 70’s I worked for Fairchild Semiconductor in Silicon Valley and companies were pirating workers from other firms as fast as they could. Companies gave eight to 15% raises every three to four months just to try and hold onto employees.

There was only one future, electronics, with a Beamer in your garage and cashing in your stock options and retiring at 50 was everyone’s goal. Little or no thought was given to the impact of the work on the environment.

For many students starting college and graduating over the next 20 years how their careers impact the world will be a very real and serious choice for them.
As an example, an engineer just graduating from college will have choices to make. Will he go into the design and production of consumer products or choose some area that will help people to make less of an impact on the earth?

These students and graduates are the future and what careers they choose to pursue will have more of an impact on the planet than the choices most of us made many years ago.

Most of us didn’t really know that some of the choices we made were doing harm to the environment – they will know the difference.

Whether they choose wisely or poorly depends on the futures we have shown them as they were growing up.

What are you teaching your children today?

Think Global – Act Local!

When is enough, enough?

drskip — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 02:08:40 +0000

This is the third article in the series called ˜New ways of doing old things”.

With global warming and all its concomitant effects, some of us are starting to think in ways that are new to us. These ways include environmental, financial, real estate and personal.

In the time we talked about where people might choose to put their money in an era of global warming. We also must learn to make other more personal choices.

When some of us think about personal choices it’s usually about where to take our vacation, what TV to buy or how big an engineÂ to get inÂ our new car.

With global warming and trouble with oil producing nations pushing up the already high cost of energy in all its forms and with the need to maximize our conservations of it we will be starting to thinking about our choices in very different ways. Where we live, saving energy and what we buy are only a few of them.

In the process of making these choices our way of thinking about the earth and our interaction with it will change as well.

In the 1950’s I can still remember my father feeling a little bad about driving a ten-year-old car with a rust spot or two on it, when the neighbors were all getting a new vehicle every three years.

For many people our fondness for always going for the latest and greatest new thing, whether it is cars, clothes or electronics, will be receiving a hard look. This will not only be done by individuals and families but by society at large.

Our focus will shift from how much stuff do we have to how long can we keep it working before it needs to be replaced. Statements like ˜Wow, they made their car last 15 years!” might become the something to shoot for.

It won’t matter where you sit in the spectrum of the haves or have-nots because this way of thinking will have become an expected societal norm.

Just like our children know so much more about computers than we do, they will be our alarm clock if we start to go in the old direction of – excessive consumption – you know – like a TV in every room.

We might even hear things from our children like, ˜Turn off that light Daddy, you’re hurting the Earth.”

Think Global – Act Local!

Lawyers, Guns and Money will be needed

drskip — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:12:12 +0000

This is the second article in the series ‘New ways of doing old things’.

We all have heard the old saying “We’ve always done it that way”. Many times there is a good reason for doing the way it has always been done – it works. But, as Bob Dylan said ˜The times they are a changing” and how we do things is going to change with it.

With global warming and its all its concomitant effects, some of us are starting to think in ways new to us. These ways include environmental, financial, real estate and personal just to name a few.

In the last column we talked about where people might choose to live in an era of global warming. Since we’re a capitalistic society it is only logical to talk about where people and governments might put their money.

If the projected droughts in the southeast and southwest continue, governments will start making provisions for allocating the available freshwater. States, cities, homes, industry, farming and the military will be among the sectors fighting over the water.

Methods of supplying more freshwater will be addressed. One method will be the construction of desalination plants along the three coasts.

These plants may be government funded and run or they may get their money from local state governments and with private sector operation. However it is done, it will take a large injection of capital. Capital not only to build them but, to get the water to where it is needed.

California is building three desalination plants right now with seven more on the drawing board.

Conservation of freshwater will become a focal point for investment as everyone tries to save water. Grey-water systems will become a common retrofit to existing homes.

A grey-water system reuses water that we usually put back into the reprocessing system. This includes dishwater and drain water off the roof, water from washing our clothes and our cars.

Companies will be formed that specialize grey-water system retrofits and government agencies assigned to oversee it.

We have been hearing a lot lately about an idea to turn the southwest into a large solar farm. The concept includes a vast distributed array of solar cells with their required support, maintenance and distribution facilities.

If under taken, the cost is a projected 420 billion dollars. By 2050 this project would supply 69% of the United States electricity. Thousands of jobs would be created to supply the equipment and for the construction. Electric cars would become the norm. Go to the following link to get all the details.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-mon_notebook_0114jan14,0,2143306.story

Warren Zevon once penned a song called ˜Lawyers, Guns and Money”. We are going to need all of them, hopefully not the guns, to get us out of this , our addiction to oil.

Think Global – Act Local!

New ways of doing old things

drskip — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:26:37 +0000

This is the start of a series called ˜New ways of doing old things”.
We all have heard the old saying ˜We’ve always done it that way”.
Many times there is a good reason for doing it the way it has always been done – it works. As Bob Dylan said ˜The times they are a changing” and how we do things is going to change with it.

With global warming and its all its concomitant effects, some of us are starting to think in ways that are new to us. These ways include environmental, financial, real estate and personal just to name a few.

In the environmental arena some people are looking at where they choose to live not based so much on where they want to live but rather on what the climate may be like in ten years.

For example, a continuing annual drought for the southeast is predicted with periods of intense rainfall over the next decade. This rainfall may be associated with hurricanes of increasing intensity.

Over the same time period the northeastern and mid-western states are predicted to see more temperature extremes than historic data would indicate e.g. hotter summers and colder winters.

The southwestern states, including southern California, will continue to face drought conditions in this time period. This drought will allow for more intense brushfires, mudslides and flooding.

Northwest states will experience larger coastal storms and more interior flooding than normal. This increase in moisture will result in a larger snow pack and greater flooding in the spring.

Our culture requires large amounts of fresh potable water for it to survive. Freshwater availability for farming, industrial and residential use will become critical with shortages resulting in rationing, recycling and proposed construction of desalination plants along the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

The Pacific coast states already have three plants under construction with seven more on the drawing board. The construction and operation of these plants will increase the cost of water.

Just how much do you want to pay to fill your swimming pool? That is, if you are allowed to by your local government.

All over the planet coastal regions are beginning to feel the effects of rising sea levels.

In the United States 30% of the population lives within the scope of sea rise, if it continues as predicted.

If you live in a coastal area you might ask yourself how soon will your property become oceanfront?

Think Global – Act Local!