energy conservation

Entries Tagged as 'energy conservation'

Living Off The Sun, Or, No Electricity Bill

May 19th, 2013 · 6 Comments · energy, global warming and climate change, home & garden, lifestyle

One year into having our rooftop solar panels installed here in Portland Oregon, we’re living off the sun. That’s to say, we producing slightly more electricity than we’re using. Yippee! (The wonks among us call this achieving net zero.) What’s the secret to living off the sun? The secret is to use

Diamond-Cut Guide To Life (in 64 words)

February 24th, 2013 · 7 Comments · sustainability

Less shopping, more nature Less email, more conversation Less junk food, more real food Less TV, more reading Less driving, more walking and biking Less stuff, more space Less alcohol, more money saved Less waste, more energy conservation Less compulsiveness, more contentment Less oil energy, more wind and solar energy Less driving alone, more carpooling and [...]

Ban the Bag Portland!

July 10th, 2009 · 1 Comment · community, health & well being, lifestyle, money, sustainability

The following is a guest post by Hanmi Meyer, Diamond-Cut Life’s site admin. Portland Rise Above Plastics Single-use plastic bags represent one of the greatest environmental catastrophes of our generation. It is estimated that 60-80% of all debris in the ocean is plastic. Plastics take hundreds of years to break down at sea and most [...]

Introducing: Resources For Good Living, Plus Contest With Two $50 Winners

June 23rd, 2009 · No Comments · energy, entertainment, food & drink, lifestyle, simplicity, sustainability, transportation, work

My sidekick Hanmi Meyer and I are pleased to be posting this morning our new page Resources For Good Living. It’s a set of links, well-labeled and organized, to cool sites that help us increase our happiness and lower our consumption. While this opening date is a bit behind schedule (the summer solstice had been [...]

Man And Machine On Mount Tabor

February 2nd, 2009 · No Comments · community, energy

I feel uncomfortable about my topic today; it’s not all love and light. I have a conflict with my machine-loving neighbor here on Mount Tabor, whom I’ll call Lenny. I like Lenny and he’s a top-notch neighbor in most ways. He volunteered to my husband Thor to change our flat tire last weekend. Lenny and [...]

How To Slash Your Heating Bill

December 23rd, 2008 · 10 Comments · energy, money

Tomorrow I’ll write about living successfully with others — skills that can enable us to save tens of thousands of dollars over our lifetimes while also slashing the emissions that drive global warming. (It will be a follow-up to my guest post appearing today at Get Rich Slowly). Today, tips on reducing our heating bills. [...]

Fate of the Automakers: The Lady Or The Tiger?

November 18th, 2008 · 3 Comments · energy, transportation

My carpool has naturally been discussing whether the government should bail out the Detroit automakers. The bailout question reminds me of the short story “The Lady Or The Tiger” in which a woman decides which door to send her lover to, i.e. death or a new life with a new lady. Carpool opinions may be [...]

How To Slash Your Electricity Bill

November 11th, 2008 · 5 Comments · energy, lifestyle, simplicity, sustainability

by Alison Wiley My diamond-cut household’s monthly electricity use is about half the national average. Besides saving more than $450/year, we’re lowering our carbon footprint because even here in Oregon, coal-burning fuels about 36% of our electricity. And our house is happy, not deprived (diamond-cut = chiseling our consumption down to the core of happiness). [...]

Heating Our House With Biodiesel, II

October 9th, 2008 · 2 Comments · energy, sustainability

Brrr . . . . we’re suddenly needing to run the heat in the morning, so it’s definitely autumn here in Portland, Oregon. We just filled our oil tank for the winter with biodiesel, B20 this time, from Star Oil, who bought it from SeQuential Biofuel. This will be the second winter we’ll have been [...]

The Best Moment of the Debate

October 8th, 2008 · No Comments · energy, lifestyle, politics, simplicity

A 78 year old woman emailed Tom Brokaw yesterday to ask this question of the two presidential candidates in last night’s debate (I’m paraphrasing): “What sacrifices would you ask of the American people, given that we’re in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression?” John McCain replied that as president he would probably have [...]

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