Summary. Discarded text books represent a significant source of waste in landfills.

Because old school and college text books are not accepted by most recycling programs, they end up getting thrown in with mainstream garbage.

Better World Books is promoting more environmentally sound recycling of books. The video below explains more.

The Environmental Impact of Better World Books from Better World Books on Vimeo.

Summary. The key to a successful recycling program is to have many highly visible, easily accessible, and easy to use recycling stations.

This page provides photos of recycling containers in use at various business and public locations.

This page is helpful for any organization or business planning to purchase and install recycling containers and  stations.

Learn more about recycling by visiting the EPA Recycle City.

Best Buy Recycling Station (below)

Iowa City Public Library Recycling Station (below)

Target Recycling Station (below)

University of Iowa Recycling Station at UCC (below)

Summary. This article was submitted by Sherman J. of Maryland and offers a general assessment of motor oils and engine care.

[Photo of Greg Johnson, by Makur Jain]

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Any oil that meets or exceeds the mfr’s requirements for weight and API grade (“SJ”, “SH”, etc) is fine. These days it seems most cars fall apart before the engine blows up. All the oil mfrs try to differentiate themselves, and there may be slight differences, but the main thing is that the oil has the proper weight and service grade. Back when we still shopped at Wal-Mart, I’d buy their house brand synthetic oil. It was cheap (for synthetic) — $2.97 vs. maybe $5 or so for the name brand oils. I figured it had to be made by one of the major oil companies, and it had the proper ratings.

I’ve always used synthetic, but primarily as a little added insurance since I use the longer “regular service” 7,500 mile oil change intervals (instead of 3,750 or 5K). I didn’t exactly baby my cars when going back and forth to work, but they’ve held up well. The Subaru is actually modified and putting out quite a bit more hp and torque than stock — 285/285 vs. (I can’t remember exactly), maybe 224/218. This puts more strain on the engine. I had the oil from the Subaru tested twice — once with about 5K miles on it, the second time with around 7,500 miles. Both times the lab (Blackstone) said it was fine. In fact, they said I could run it for a couple thousand miles longer but I figured I’d stick with 7,500. The Nissan has about 250,000 miles and the Subaru close to 200K. Neither burn very much oil. I may have to add 1/2 quart between changes.

A lot of people are still under the misconception that they must change their car’s oil every 3K miles. The oil change places like Jiffy Lube seem to support this misconception. Last I noticed they were still pushing the 3K mile oil changes. I’m not aware of any auto mfr that has less than a 3,750 mile interval, and that’s for “severe service” — police, taxi, towing, lots of short trips (engine never gets warm), lots of dirt roads/dust, etc. The “severe” oil change interval for our RAV4 is 5,000 miles (normal is 7,500). Your car might qualify for the shorter interval (whatever is in your owner’s manual) if you do a lot of driving in town. If it’s mostly road trips then go with the longer interval. Any oil that meets the mfr’s specs is fine. I definitely would not use synthetic if you’re changing it every 3 or 4K miles — it seems like a waste.

It’s worth mentioning that using the longer (7,500+ mile) service interval saves: resources (oil, and steel for the oil filter); time (whether you do it yourself or go to a shop); and money — less oil, fewer filters, and less in labor charges for those that go to a shop. Of course, people should always use the shorter interval if there’s any question as to whether their vehicle falls in that category.

Some vehicles (like Mercedes) have an ECU (engine control unit) in some of their vehicles (maybe all now?) that keeps track of how the vehicle is driven and recommends oil changes based on operating conditions. The high end of the oil change interval range is from 10,000 to 20,000 miles. That is with synthetic oil and is under ideal driving conditions — decent temperature, no short trips, mostly highway miles (very little idling and stop-and-go).

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A number of leading companies in the banking, energy and building sectors have joined forces to set up a not-for-profit organisation to help fund the installation of renewable energy equipment.

The Green Deal Finance Company (GDFC) will provide cheap loans to both businesses and home owners who want to install renewable energy equipment, as part of the government’s Green Deal scheme.

It is hoped many people will install renewable energy equipment such as solar PV panels, ground source heat pumps and biomass boilers as part of the scheme to not only reduce their energy costs but to also help the government meet its targets on carbon emissions.

One of the rules of the scheme states that loan repayments must never exceed the savings on energy bills, so it is hoped that this will encourage people to take up the finance options available.

The Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne, said:

“New firms like the Green Deal Finance Company are testament to the attractiveness of the Green Deal framework and its potential to offer a better deal to consumers.”

The GDFC is made up of 16 members including energy companies such as British Gas and npower, banks such as HSBC and Lloyds and retail group Kingfisher who own B&Q. It is hoped that more companies and local authorities will become part of the group to make the funding as accessible as possible.

There are also a number of other government incentives available for home owners who install renewable energy sources including feed in tariffs as well as the Renewable Heat Incentive which is due to be launched in autumn 2012.

Replacing a boiler with a more environmentally friendly version, whether it’s a wood chip and log boiler or a wood pellet and log boiler can help you make significant savings on your heating bills, and as they use all your existing pipes, it is easy to install and can cost much less than you expect.

If you’re looking for advice on renewable energy then contact independent advisors Enerfina. They can recommend the ideal source for your home and have also negotiated special deals with suppliers to ensure that you get the best price possible for your renewable energy equipment.

Summary. Sustainability and energy independence is on the forefront of everyone’s mind these days. It’s well known that among the greatest consumers of energy are heating systems — and most heating system use non-renewable energy.

The book Wood Pellet Heating Systems by Dilwyn Jenkins explores wood pellet options. According to the Amazon book description:

Wood Pellet Heating Systems is a comprehensive handbook covering all aspects of wood pellet heating technology. The use of wood pellets as an alternative heating fuel is already well established in several countries and is becoming widespread as fossil fuel prices continue to rise and awareness of climate change grows. Wood pellets are a carbon-neutral technology, convenient to use, and can easily be integrated into existing central heating systems or used in independent space heaters. This fully-illustrated and easy-to-follow guide shows how wood-pellet heating works, the different types of systems – from small living room stove systems to larger central heating systems for institutions – how they are installed, and even how wood pellets are manufactured. Featuring examples from around the world, it has been written for heating engineers and plumbers who are interested in installing systems, home owners and building managers who are considering purchasing a system, advanced DIYers, building engineers and architects, but will be of interest to anyone who requires a clear guide to wood pellet technology.

Amazon has a variety of wood pellet heaters and other resources for wood pellet heating systems.

Biomass Boilers. On the larger scale, Biomass Boilers are gaining in popularity as a viable solution for industrial and commercial heating. This is, in part, made possible by repurposing of previously useless industrial and agricultural waste.

UK Green Deal. An article critical of the UK Green Deal initiative was recently published by The Guardian. In a previous Guardian article, the Green Deal was explained in more detail, with less criticism. Regardless of its level of success, wide-scale government initiatives and involvement will be required to see change in energy consumption. We should do our best to support programs that help consumers acquire more sustainable sources of heating such as biomass boilers, or wood pellet / wood chip and log boilers.

Enerfina. In the UK, Enerfina is a renewable energy product provider with a mission to promote more sustainable heating technologies. Of course, simply providing the technologies isn’t enough, consumers need to be informed about their benefits. Also, investors and legislators need to do all they can to help promote their use. Enerfina is educating consumers about the following energy alternatives:

• Wind Energy
• Solar PV Electric Energy
• Solar Thermal Panels
• Geothermal Energy
• Borehole ground-source heat pumps
• air-source heat pumps
• water-source heat pumps
• Biomass Energy Systems
• Heat Recovery Ventilation Systems
• and Hydro / Tidal Energy

Summary. A topic sometimes avoided by people in the ecotourism industry is the environmental impact of the travel required to reach the environmentally friendly destination. Of course, the reason for this is that those in the tourism, vacation, and hospitality industry know that the best advice to give their environmentally conscientious customers is to not travel at all.

Travel Apps. The Green Travel Choice App for Apple iPhone lets travelers make transportation choices based on computed carbon footprint of their available modes of travel to reach a destination. While such applications offer an initial novelty, and are certainly useful for occasional calculations, in the long run, travelers soon learn their best transportation modes and choose those. Of course, just as with recycling, the best thing to do is simply reduce your travel.

Public Transit. The City of Iowa City makes public transportation simpler and more effective by tracking public transit buses using on-board GPS systems and then providing real-time bus route and schedule reporting to mobile devices for commuters and travelers. The system used is called Bongo.

Ecotourism Conference. In the year 2012, from Monday September 17 to Wednesday September 19, hundreds of people will be traveling to Monterey, California for the Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference sponsored by the International Ecotourism Society. In a bazaar twist of irony, thousands of people will be flying to the event from more than 30 countries around the world. One can’t help but wonder if having an online conference would have been a more sustainable way for these sustainability people to meet. Given the heavy attendance by those in the vacation, tourism, and hospitality industry, one wonders how much is being done to dissuade travelers from choosing local attractions rather than more remote destinations for their vacation plans. Many remote vacation spots depend on tourism to sustain their economy. So, it’s unlikely those in the industry will help reduce the negative impact of vacation travel.

Achieving 2025 Miles Per Gallon. The Picycle is a new vehicle that can achieve a equivalent energy efficiency of 2025 miles per gallon. The chart below [source] provides an excellent resource for comparing various modes of travel and their equivalent miles per gallon per person. The chart illustrates that the Picycle can achieve 2025 miles per gallon energy efficiency due to space-age technologies and regeneration systems. Click the chart to enlarge.

Impact of Cruise Ship Travel. In 2006, the Gardian published a collection of quotes from industry experts about the impact of cruise line travel. In 2009, Discover.com published a more thorough look at the impact of travel by planes, trains, and automobiles.

Summary. In 2010, Curitiba, Brazil was awarded the Globe Sustainable City Award which was set up to recognize cities and municipalities which excel in sustainable urban development around the world.

“The City of Curitiba shows maturity in their understanding of sustainable city development – both regarding policy and implementation. The holistic approach is well framed and managed in order to create a strong and healthy community, integrating the environmental dimension with other dimensions like intellectual, cultural, economic and social.”

Videos. Below are some videos that show highlights from the city.

Dear Friend,

I know that time is precious for everyone, so I’ll try to keep this update short. The approximate reading time is about 5 minutes. Further down, there’s some repetition of announcements from last month for those who’ve just joined the list.

Media Requests. We continue to be contacted by journalists who want to interview small housers. Here are some current requests.

• Media Request: National Magazine Seeks Small Housers for Article on Small Living
• Media Request: New York Area Television Producer Seeks Small Housers for TV Episode on Small Living
• Media Request: Los Angeles Area Journalist Seeks Small Housers
• Media Request: Washington D.C. Area Journalist Seeks Small Housers

Small House Movement Articles. Here are some of the recent small house movement articles.

• Division 43 by DR Horton – Sustainable and Walkable Small New Urbanism Community in Portland, Oregon
• Peter King Workshop: How to Build a Small Wood Frame House
• Small House Movement – ABC Radio News Canberra Australia – Interview with Greg Johnson – 10 September 2011
• Small House Living Questions and Answers

Shop, Support, Repeat. Please visit our site and click the Amazon logo in the right column to shop and have a portion of the profits support our work. Thanks!

Advertising and Store. The advertising on our site, and the merchant partners in our store help raise funds to pay for our operations. So, for example, the next time you go shopping on Amazon, for no extra cost to you, if you’d click our link to Amazon, your purchases generate revenue for us.

Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. If you’ve not visited the TumbleweedHouses.com website recently, you should really take a look. It’s recently been renovated and has a beautiful new design.

Facebook Page. The Small House Society Facebook Page currently has 1,728 members (up from 1,515 last month). If you’ve not yet done so, please visit the Small House Society Facebook Page and click Like to connect with us there. I’ve been really impressed with how quickly people have joined our Facebook presence. In a few months we’ve seen as much growth as 9 years on Yahoo Groups.

Yahoo Group. The Small House Society Yahoo Group continues to be quite active after about 9 years. For those who prefer a venue other than Facebook, you might want to consider it as a way to connect with other small living people.

Updated Directory of Designers and Builders. One of the most frequent requests we get is from people seeking small home designers and builders. In January I finished updating our directory of small home designers and builders to include the city and state to make it easier for journalists and potential customers to find local small home contacts.

Thanks. I want to thank the global team of volunteers and contributors “behind the scenes” who help make all this possible. I’m very grateful to the many people who continue to uphold and advance the mission of the Small House Society. Thanks again for your support. Please let me know if there is any way that the Small House Society can serve you better.

Regards,
Gregory Johnson, Facilitator, President, Co-Founder
Small House Society

Internet: http://www.smallhousesociety.org
E-Mail: shs @ resourcesforlife.com (without spaces)
Postal: c/o Resources for Life, PO Box 2717, Iowa City, IA 52244-2717
Phone: (319) 621-4911
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