Sustainable Living Tips by Lee Leffler

The practice of “fracking” – hydraulically fracturing rock to extract natural gas – has come under fire in New York State. Environmental and health groups swarmed the state Capitol in Albany requesting a legislative ban on fracking. They are concerned that regulation cannot adequately prevent the contamination of water from fracking.

NY State Senator Tony Avella has sponsored a bill to ban hydraulic fracturing. “Fracking is the most important environmental issue this state has faced in the past 100 years,” he said.

Click to read the article in the Wall Street Journal.

Have you ever heard the joke about the absurdity of putting a recreation area right next to a waste management plant?

This blog post on the New York Times website talks about a plan to open a ski park in a waste management plant. The article says, “If you’re itching to visit the new advanced waste management plant that will open in 2016 in Copenhagen, be sure to bring your skis. An urban ski park will cover the plant, which will incinerate the waste from five municipalities to generate heat and electricity for 140,000 homes.”

Imagine taking an elevator to the top of a building, then skiing down one of 3 slopes while your trash – and all the trash from the surrounding region – burns merrily inside.

Read this article to find out what these “geniuses” are thinking.

Hmm. Go skiing to take you mind of pollution.

The Obama administration today proposed guidelines for solar development on public lands in the West, to accelerate projects in six western states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

The detailed study, known as a Draft Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, names 24 “solar energy zones” that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said are “best suited for large-scale solar development.”

Click to read the article on the Environmental News Service website.

photo by Jim Fairchild

Maharishi University of Management has launched a $1.5 million renovation project to fix buildings, upgrade facilities, and improve energy efficiency at the same time. After completing a $2 million dorm renovation project last year, the University plans to spend half of the new funds on energy efficient upgrades.

“Our University Trustees were eager to make energy efficiency a major focus of the project,” said David Streid, MUM chief administrative officer. In addition to making the campus greener, the upgrades will save money in the long run.

The roof of the Art Center received an additional 2 ½ inches of insulation and a system to capture the heat from the kiln . . .

Click to read the rest of this article.

Image linked from the April 2010 issue of the Iowa Source

The Iowa Source just issued its special Green issue for April. “Cut Flowers, Locally Grown,” “”Sustainable Repairs: The Barhdyt Pipe Organ Gets New Life,” “You Too Can Go Green!” “An Alternative to Bovine Submission” and more. Pick up a copy in the state of Iowa, or check it out online at the Iowa Source website.

Are you ready for the EcoFair 2010 in Fairfield, Iowa on April 30-May 2?

Held on the Maharishi University of Management campus, this year’s EcoFair will feature Diana Leafe Christian, the author of Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities, speaking on Spiritually Oriented Ecovillages. Also, you will hear Mark Lakeman and Micahel Cook on City Repair and the Power of Placemaking. Meet Mike Nicklas, president and co-founder of Innovative Design, Inc., who will talk about Key Strategies for Green Development. And more. Speaker’s list. Schedule.

On Sunday May 2, the Ecofair will become an Unconference using Open Space Technology. Open Space Technology is a highly participatory process that has been successfully employed in multiple situations all over the world. Learn more.

Carbon Trading and Carbon Offsets could be the worst thing to happen to the planet, according to Annie Leonard’s (The Story of Stuff) new video. Watch it today.

Click this picture to see The Story of Cap & Trade

Golden Dome Fairfield Market employee stands proudly in front of the geothermal rig.

By Lee Leffler

On the campus of Maharishi University of Managment, the new storage building by the Golden Dome Market is now being heated and cooled with geothermal technology as part of a pilot project to install geothermal systems in additional campus buildings.

Geothermal technology involves drilling holes in the ground, inserting loops of pipes, then circulating water through the pipes. Since the ground in this region is a constant 55 degrees Fahrenheit, heat can be either extracted or rejected as it is circulated through the pipes, providing winter heating and summer cooling.

Geothermal pipes outside the Golden Dome Market in Fairfield, Iowa

The University is leasing a special rig to drill holes horizontally, 15 feet underground. The drill can run under lawns, parking lots, and other terrain, without disturbing the landscape. When the drill has gone far enough (usually several hundred feet), it is sent to the surface. A loop of polyethylene pipe is attached to the drill head, and the drill slowly retreats back through the hole, bringing the pipe with it. Soon, the pipe is underground, ready to be filled with water and connected to a ground source heat pump that uses only a small amount of electricity (about a quarter of the amount used by a small space heater).

(more…)