Question: Your Energy Lifestyle and Backpacking

Btw Mark, i'm assuming you mean Athens Greece? We were there briefly a couple years ago. Funny how the American media made such a hullabaloo about how dangerous it was to travel to Greece because of the riots—we didn't see a single shred of this "danger".

Dr. Paul LaViolette lives in Athens, now that is one guy i would love to sit down and chat with.

See there goes that media blowing stuff up out of proportion again :p

Dr. Paul LaViolette, yes i was sat having a pint with him last week.

Just kidding,
Did a google search and i still don't know the guy

"See there goes that media blowing stuff up out of proportion again :p "

Touche Mark, touche.

Re: Dr. P, well, he's not that well known. Some (many?) would likely label him a fringe scientist.

Those with intuitive, expanded perception might label him a prophet of sorts. For what goes around, comes around, and what has happened before, will likely happen again with slight variations on a theme. Mystic mumbo jumbo, possibly, but could possibly relate to that feeling that i've been getting since about age 12, re: big changes coming to the world.

"What a strange reality we live in."

If this is reality, lead me to that rabbit hole. Maybe Lewis Carroll was onto something after all.

Some, like physicist (and former, informal sort of student of Bob Monroe) Tom Campbell , would say that part of us exists, or rather is taking part in, a virtual reality. Sort of a grand video game where real reality, our consciousness, is playing these characters and roles, much like we control an avatar when we play a video game.

Except that this "game" is many times more complex, is for the ultimate purpose of growth towards that of the consciousness of Love, and has very real consequences–a system of feedback. I would add, one can also get overly stuck in the virtual reality, to the point wherein much of you doesn't realize it's a virtual reality anymore. Maybe why some more awake siblings from other levels of the VR occasionally drop in to shake up the status quo a little now and then.

Who knows, eh, hard to see what's beyond the bag when one is in it.

Once again I am fascinated by the intelligence and variety of views of BPL members. But please, can we get back to Backpacking Light? That's what has made this such a wonderful community.

"That's what has made this such a wonderful community."

What you are reading here is also part of what has made BPL such a wonderful community, a peek at the people behind the knowledge and experience that you value so highly. Diverse, zany, offensive at times, sensitive and caring at others. In short, a microcosm of humanity that happens to share a common love of being in the wild places. Gotta accept the whole package. ;0)

Interesting story I just read on this: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/07/how-bad-is-meat-for-the-planet/373771/

includes the following chart:

Data from a similar study for the UK that was recently released.

Note: "Heavy meat eaters" eat more than 3.5 ounces of meat per day. "Medium meat eaters" eat between 1.7 and 3.5 ounces. "Low meat eaters" eat fewer than 1.7 ounces per day. "Pescatarians" are vegetarians who also eat fish.

References:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10584-014-1169-1
http://www.vox.com/2014/7/2/5865109/study-going-vegetarian-could-cut-your-food-carbon-footprint-in-half

I went from living in a 100 sq ft off-the-grid house in the northeast to living in a 1200 sq ft rental house in the Las Vegas Valley. I am one great big walking carbon offset. Many of my decisions are driven more by good old-fashioned economy than by a desire to save the planet.

I find that renting makes for a big carbon footprint–cheap old appliances, cheap old insulation. I miss my woodstove and my solar shower!!! At least we managed to find a place without a lawn–the idea of watering a lawn in the middle of the desert is a real headscratcher for me.

I'm a vegetarian with vegan tendencies–that offsets the fact that I have a child, right? ;-) Re: Sarah's "We need MORE smart people having kids"–this is what my mom always told me growing up.

We don't use paper towels (or really much of anything disposable–I still buy ziploc bags specifically for hiking). Cold water only in the bathroom sinks. Line-dry almost everything (at least until the HOA tells me to take down my clothesline). No electric lights until the sun goes down. Flush the toilet with grey water from the dishes. TP for solids, pee rag the rest of the day (backpacking principles applied IRL!).

Secondhand clothes (for me at least–SO thinks Goodwill clothes are icky…), secondhand furniture (except for mattresses and anything upholstered–I've had one run-in with bedbugs and that's plenty, thanks).

I've been carless in the past, but when it's 110 degrees outside and I'm accompanied by a 4 month old baby, I'm not so keen on walking to the grocery store. We own a secondhand Prius–as much out of cheapskatery as out of greenness. 50mpg takes some of the sticker shock out of roadtrips!

When we're ready to stay in one place long enough to own instead of rent, it'll be somewhere where we don't need AC, don't need to drive much, where the soil is arable and the water drinkable. And our floorplan will be well under 1000 sq ft but well over 100. I'd be happy living in a tent full time, but the SO is fond of hot showers and high-speed internet (I keep telling him he should just get a gym membership and a library card).

PS — I was born in the 80s but I inherited my grandfather's POGO collection. Started a lifelong love affair with quality comics.

Kate,

Do you have a system to recycle gray water to the toilet resevoir or are you just using a bucket?

Unfortunately in Eastern Washington, we never get a break. We'll can see sub freezing temps in the winter for weeks at a time. Yesterday it was 104*. Definitely going to move someplace in Washington where I can live AC free post retirement (7 years 1 month and counting).

"Do you have a system to recycle gray water to the toilet resevoir or are you just using a bucket?"

Just a plastic basin, nothing fancy. It started out as a drip catcher for an under-sink leak and stayed in the kitchen after I fixed the pipe. My SO is worried I'm gonna put a bucket in the shower next.

Here!

I built a house at 7340' in the San Juan Mountains of SW Colorado. We get real winters with temperatures as low as the minus twenties F (minus thirties C). I designed the passive solar part using a book, hand calculator, and backs of envelopes, hoping to get 90% of space heating from the sun shining through the windows. Due to cumulative errors of estimation, the house ended up being 100% passive solar. Yes, no heating bill! With night time ventilation the house is likewise very comfortable in the summer.

The backup heating system, in-floor hydronic, has not been used at all for the past ten plus years. The house has a fireplace, which is used principally for ambience when there are guests. Otherwise, the house is all electric and averages 400 kWh/month, most of which is time-shifted to Off-Peak. I pay a small surcharge to assure that the electrons are pushed through the wires from "renewable" sources. Ha ha.

For reasons I am not entirely clear about, my diet is vegetarian. My car is sixteen years old and gets twenty-seven to thirty mpg. I don't travel much far from home. Why should I? I am here to ski and hike in the backcountry.

Off topic, but this house is on the market. SixWayCrossing.com

Jim,

If I had $975,000 burning a hole in my pocket, I'd make you an offer. That is one gorgeous home.

I hesitate to mix work and fun. I will probably regret posting this msg. I've stay out of this thread and the other climate change rat hole threads because I research and work on these topics.

But I can't resist on the specific issue of paying a premium to your electric utility so you can say that you are "using" renewable energy…unfortunately, it is in the vast majority of cases, bunk. I painfully amid having spent years years of my life proving it.

"Redefining RECS: Additionality in the voluntary renewable energy certificate market," PhD Disseratation of Princeton University; Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs; Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy Program, Advisor: M. Oppenheimer.
http://tinyurl.com/ktkohuk

I don't recommend you read more than the abstract unless you get off on this stuff. And here are some peer-reviewed versions, in case you prefer that format and want to pay for a subscription.

Gillenwater, M., X. Lu, M. Fischlein, 2014. "Additionality of wind energy investments in the U.S. voluntary green power market," Renewable Energy, Volume 63, Pages 452–457. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2013.10.003

Gillenwater, M., 2013. "Probabilistic decision model of wind power investment and influence of green power market," Energy Policy, Volume 63, Pages 1111-1125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.09.049

Before the cranks and anti-cranks jump in, my colleagues and I are strong supporters of policies that promote renewable energy investment. This research does not show or argue that renewable energy is a waste. It only shows that when you pay a premium, you are not actually buying renewable energy. So, unfortunately, voluntarily paying a premium as an electricity consumer does not have an effect on how much renewable energy is generated. But you can install systems directly on your home (like with your awesome sounding passive solar), invest directly in renewable companies or projects, and push for policies that require or incent your utility to invest in more renewable energy capacity. Although none are as easy as checking a box on your electric bill, admittedly.

PS: And for any super physics geeks, electrons don't flow down wires from a power plant to your house.
http://ghginstitute.org/is-the-way-you-think-about-emissions-from-purchased-electricity-wrong/