Pacifica Riptide

Nasty Little Secret: Solar Panels Not So Bright and Shiny

Solar Panels Don't Work. And No One Knows.
By Ray Burgess, AOL Energy
Published: October 7, 2011
Solar panels do not work that well. Often far below expectations. And few know it. Not the owners who depend on power. Not the bankers who finance it. Not the brokers who insure it. And not the government agencies who subsidize it. There I said it: The nasty little secret of the solar business. And I said it right at a time when we who believe in solar are under public scrutiny like never before. But if we who love solar and alternative energy do not put our house in order, those who believe solar is some kind of government-funded shell-game will do it for us. This would be a disaster for our country.

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Bag It: The Film; Get Plastic Propaganda Out of Our Schoolbooks

Thanks to Ian Butler and Lynn Adams for the following messages:

Bag It has been garnering awards at film festivals across the nation. What started as a documentary about plastic bags evolved into a wholesale investigation into plastics and their effect on our waterways, oceans, and even our bodies. If you missed the recent screening at Owen Hall or the PCT broadcast, you can probably get the film on Netflix or elsewhere online. Also, please take action on the message below about the plastic industry's outrageous propaganda inserted into schoolbooks.

CLICK FOR TRAILER/PREVIEW OF BAG IT FILM

MESSAGE FROM ENVIRONMENT CALIFORNIA

We know plastic bags are terrible for the environment. They pollute our oceans and beaches, harm wildlife, and contribute to the Pacific Garbage Patch — that toxic soup of trash swirling off our coast that's grown to be twice the size of Texas. So why does California's new environmental curriculum include a section on "The Advantages of Plastic Shopping Bags"? Because lobbyists for the American Chemistry Council — the same front group that spent millions to defeat the statewide bag ban last year — convinced school officials to include it. [1]

What’s next? A lesson on the benefits of mercury in our diet? Please tell Governor Jerry Brown to keep polluters’ propaganda out of our kids’ textbooks. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle [1], parts of the textbook "were inserted almost verbatim from letters written by the chemistry council. The additions included: ‘Plastic shopping bags are very convenient to use. They take less energy to manufacture than paper bags, cost less to transport, and can be reused.’ ”

It’s no surprise that plastic-bag makers want to convince the next generation of Californians that their product is “eco-friendly.” But it’s the resposibility of school officials to make sure they get the facts:

The Pacific Garbage Patch — a toxic soup of swirling trash off our coast — has grown to be twice the size of Texas. In this zone, plastic outnumbers plankton by as much as 6:1.

Scientists are increasingly concerned about the toll plastic pollution takes on wildlife, who can choke, suffocate or starve to death if their stomachs become filled with plastic

While plastic breaks into smaller and smaller pieces, scientists believe it may never biodegrade.

Please tell Governor Brown to make sure plastic-industry propaganda is removed from kids’ textbooks immediately. Thanks for standing up for our ocean and environment.

Dan Jacobson
Environment California Legislative Director

P.S. Help spread the word by posting this to Facebook and Twitter.

[1] “Plastic bag lobbying group influences curriculum,” Susanne Rust, California Watch, San Francisco Chronicle, August 19, 2011, page A-1.

Healthy Communities: Environment, Economy, and Social Equity

BY DAN UNDERHILL, RIPTIDE CORRESPONDENT

I attended the Healthy Communities Forum #3 on August 18. There were two previous forums in this series that I didn't hear about in time to go to. The series explores the idea of sustainability vis-a-vis environment, economy, and social equity, and it contends that maintaining all three "bottom lines" is good for business in general.

The forum focused more on government and large corporations than small businesses such as my own. The focus on larger institutions is wise, of course, as the larger the institution, the larger the effect for good or ill.

The forum's central question was: "What would the top of the sustainability mountain look like in your/our community, and what steps. individually and collectively, do we need to take to get there?"

After introducing all the corporate and government sponsors, forum organizers showed the film So Right—So Smart, featuring Ray Anderson, founder and CEO of Interface Corporation and author of the book Mid-Course Correction. I had previously seen Anderson in the film The Corporation by Achbar, Abbott & Bakan. This film So Right—So Smart provides a much deeper understanding of Anderson's story and of what governments and businesses might do to transform themselves into being part of the solution.

Librarians (I really appreciate librarians) at the San Mateo Public Library, where the forum was held, set up a display of these books:

75 Green Businesses—You Can Start to Make Money & Make a Difference
By Glen Croston, PhD

Green Business
By Amy K. Townsend

Green Careers For Dummies
By Carol McLelland, PhD

Greening Your Business
By Daniel Sitarz

Doing What Matters
By James M. Kiltz

Companies on a Mission
By Michael V. Russo

Greening Your Small Business
By Jennifer Kaplan

The Plot to Save the Planet
By Brian Dumaine

The Green Collar Economy
By Van Jones

Climate Capitalism
By L. Hunter Lovins & Boyd Cohen

Green to Gold
By Daniel C. Esty & Andrew S. Winston

The Green Life: Sierra Club's Daily Tips for Sustainable Living

SIERRA CLUB TIPS ON HOW TO LIVE THE GREEN LIFE

Pacifica's Classic Combo: Libraries and Gardens

Library Assistant Chris Vance with Master Gardener Elizabeth Marshall

Garden party to thank volunteers and donors

Carrots, beets, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic
 
We are looking for volunteers to help maintain the garden. We have two designated senior beds that are two feet high. If volunteers are really serious about gardening, they can take ownership of part of a bed or a full bed. This is a work in progress.
 
CHRIS VANCE
Library Assistant
Sharp Park Library 650-355-5196
Sanchez Library 650-359-3397
vance@smcl.org
 
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." (Marcus Tullius Cicero)

Chris adds: "I started working at the two Pacifica Libraries in the fall of 2008. I started reading the Pacifica Tribune during my lunch and found your column very enjoyable and now never miss a column. I started a garden at the Sanchez Library with one raised bed in the spring of 2009 and we built another bed in 2010. A library volunteer, Sheena Goss, who works at Wells Fargo, noticed the garden and applied for a grant through Wells Fargo. We got $1,000 from this grant. We started an expansion of the garden with a Master Gardener, Elizabeth Marshall. She approached Dave at Pedro Point Ace Hardware and he supplied us with enough redwood lumber to build eight raised vegetable beds, each at 4 feet by 10 feet and about 100 feet of perimeter bed space for herbs and native plants. Much of the harvest goes to the Pacifica Resource Center, more than a hundred pounds so far this spring and summer, with more to come."

Greywater Recycling Classes @ Urban Farmer

This is a program to train people to install their own greywater systems that use laundry wastewater to irrigate their gardens. The program will pay for much of the material expense and the training itself is free. They are looking for volunteers; if you are interested, contact Jeff Parker at jeffp@urbanfarmerstore.com
 
The following is a blog we wrote about the program: Rags to Riches --This is hopefully the first installment of a rags to riches story: how discarded water from your laundry (that’s the rags part) can turn into edible riches. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission http://sfwater.org/home.cfm is launching a new Laundry to Landscape pilot program, the object of which is to install greywater systems that utilize laundry wastewater for irrigating landscaping, thus reducing water and sewer use. The program is aimed at single and duplex home owners, and includes a short training class and subsidized sale of the necessary piping equipment.

For those not familiar with greywater systems, they involve the use of wastewater from bathroom sinks, showers, bathtubs and laundries to irrigate landscaping (and in some cases for toilet flushing). Wastewater from toilets, utility sinks and kitchen sinks are not included, as they contain much more bacterial and chemical components and need more sophisticated treatment. Bathroom sinks, laundries, showers and tubs, given the use of appropriate cleansers, are considered safe for use in landscaping, as long as some basic precautions are taken with how the water is distributed. The state has even legalized ‘simple’ systems, involving water from a laundry, without needing a permit. More complex systems are also possible. Check out the Greywater Alliance http://www.greywateralliance.org/ or Greywater Action http://greywateraction.org/ for general information.

The program is being run by the Urban Farmer Store http://www.urbanfarmerstore.com/ of San Francisco, and they are looking for 150 volunteers for the pilot. The benefits include a $95 subsidy on parts and training by experts. This will cover most of the costs for many people. We intend to irrigate edible plants -- a small fruit orchard and blueberry bushes – with our system. It may take a few years for things to mature (growing edible plants in San Francisco’s climate is always a challenge!), but we have hopes for a cornucopia.
 
Robert and Christine Boles
Beausoleil Architects
745 Faxon Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94112
415.587-2004

Pick It Up: Recycling Has Its Rewards

 

It's All About the Green Thing

BY JIM KNOWLES, SAN LEANDRO TIMES

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing  back in my day."

That's right, they didn't have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But they didn't have the green thing back her day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks. But she's right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right, they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house - not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right, they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But that old lady is right. They didn't have the green thing back in her day.

(January 7, 2011)

Conserve Water: Award-Winning Student Essays

CLICK HERE FOR WINNING STUDENT ESSAYS

Do We Know Which Way the Wind Blows?

Photographic collage by Robert Boles, images from Google Images

BY BOB BOLES, SPECIAL TO RIPTIDE

With gas prices approaching or topping $4 per gallon, a nuclear reactor crisis in Japan, and political unrest across much of the Islamic world, isn't it time to get serious about sustainable sources of energy? The following is my attempt to portray a more hopeful future. (Before we can create the future, we must first imagine it.) 

SAN FRANCISCO (March 16, 2012)—With a stiff wind buffeting the reviewing stand, City College of San Francisco Chancellor Don Q. Griffin released the brakes to begin operation of the largest wind turbine farm in San Francisco. The four massive turbines, mounted on the roof of the main campus’ iconic Science Hall, slowly picked up speed and within a minute were rotating blurs. The crowd of several hundred onlookers, including members of the College Board of Trustees, Congresswoman Jackie Speier, Mayor Ed Lee, officers of manufacturer Akme Turbine, and students, cheered as a monitor showing power production pulsed up toward maximum capacity.

The 360-kilowatt installation, the largest college installation in the nation, will provide as much as 50 percent of the main campus’ peak power needs. After hours – when the campus has minimal use – the power generated will be more than the campus uses and will be fed back into the electrical grid. The college’s electric meters will run backward.

Speier said in her keynote address to the crowd, "This fabulous project is a win-win for the college and the community. Its design and construction have already helped train our students in engineering, technical sciences, and aeronautics, as will its ongoing monitoring and maintenance in years to come. The local manufacturers will benefit from our trained work force, and will help ensure that California leads the nation and the world in green power."

Milton Marks, president of the City College Board of Trustees, said the project represented a rare combination of interests and benefactors. "Working with the California Green Job Corps, we got a grant from the National Science Foundation to create a wind power education curriculum and funding for the first year of operation. Major funding for construction came from the Department of Energy, with PG&E, the City College Foundation, and the city’s Office of the Environment kicking in some matching funds. Akme Turbine’s winning proposal for the manufacture included full cooperation of its staff with the science, engineering, and architecture faculty, so that design and construction could be integrated into ongoing training of students. So this project was really faculty- and student-based."

Matt Conway, CEO of Akme Turbine, explained how the site was the key to the design. "The campus sits in a saddle between Mount Davidson and Ingleside Heights. Science Hall sits up tall in this saddle, and the hills funnel the prevailing winds straight at it, like a boulder clogging a raging river. The wind speed really picks up as the flow rises and then passes over the building. There was no better place to locate the turbines than right up on the roof."

"I can attest to that," said one of the students in the crowd. "You can’t even get in the door some days. This has got to be one of the windiest places in the city."

Conway added, "We looked at more conventional propeller-style designs, but the team decided on a helical design for several reasons. Its relatively low speed keeps the noise level very low, and also is very safe for bird life. We didn’t want shredded pigeons all over the grounds!" Conway’s company, based in San Francisco, is a unique manufacturer that uses computer-aided design and robotic fabrication to create highly customized products efficiently. He says his managers enjoyed working collaboratively with the students and faculty: "This is the future of manufacturing – where we will beat the rest of the world. Well-educated, well-paid creators making durable customized goods efficiently. Mass production is a dead end."

Comparing the upraised arms of Benny Bufano’s statue of Saint Francis of the Guns with the turbines rising above Science Hall, Brian Ha, an engineering student who worked on the project, said, "I think he’s blessing our babies."

"It’s just plain beautiful," said an awestruck coed, gazing up at the dancing blades.