I am an ER doc in central California that enjoys the outdoors, has a small gadget problem and has a huge interest in sustainability and environmental policy. We are on a rapid road to the destruction ...
I am an ER doc in central California that enjoys the outdoors, has a small gadget problem and has a huge interest in sustainability and environmental policy. We are on a rapid road to the destruction of our planet's ecosystem as we know it. Our current political system has allowed lobbyists, corporate and personal interests to dictate our environmental policy and ignored scientific data regarding global warming. We the people need to stand up and show by the choices we make and our actions that this is not acceptable. Drive less. Bike more. Get a fuel efficient, hybrid, or alternative fuel car. Use public transportation. Get solar. Turn off lights. Use less power. Get energy efficient appliances. Buy organic and locally grown foods. Buy products that are sustainably produced. Consume like you give a damn.
The S.E.E.P. is what we have dubbed our little 1/4 acre in San Luis Obispo, CA. What started as a standard, inefficient, 1970’s home, is now well on it’s way to being efficient, sustainable, and will provide our family with a large percentage of our food and power needs. We currently have a 4.5 kW solar photovoltaic system for 75% of our electricity, a solar hot water collector, an efficient pellet stove for heat, and we filter used vegetable oil to use directly and to make biodiesel for our two vehicles. We recycle religiously, compost all of our organic waste, have LED or CFL bulbs throughout the house, and we try to eat locally grown and organic foods whenever possible. We have an ever-expanding garden, 10 and counting fruit trees, and are finishing a greenhouse made from recycled windows to grow as much organic food as we can on our property.
Sustainability has become somewhat of a hobby around here and has been educational, enjoyable, and rewarding. We are always looking for new ways to reduce, reuse, recycle, and tread as lightly as possible on the earth.
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