http://www.altestore.com/blog/Greenword/5003641523 The Green Word from Greenword, the AltE Blog Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:16:00 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en As I read more and more about clean energy production and learn more about the detrimental effects of urbanization, the more annoyed I get at all the blank roofs across the US. Just think about how much we could be doing if every roof actually had a purpose? If there were ... http://www.altestore.com/blog/Greenword/5003641523/2009/04/20/roofs%e2%80%a6the-undiscovered-country/ [caption id="attachment_220" align="alignleft" width="158" caption="Make Magazine "][/caption] You know how we love our DIY folks here at AltE! Soon we’ll be reaching a whole new audience because you’ll be seeing us in the May issues of Make Magazine! In fact, AltE will be featured on the back cover of their DIY ... http://www.altestore.com/blog/Greenword/5003641523/2009/04/17/see-alte-in-make-magazine/ Ok, yes you can argue that using electricity to grow things indoors is counter productive - but I'm trying to balance self sustainability and minimal energy consumption - so hear me out! If you’re going to grow vegetables from seed anywhere that you have a freezing season, you’ll probably need a ... http://www.altestore.com/blog/Greenword/5003641523/2009/04/02/living-sustainably-grow-lights-101/ I found these guys out there on the interwebs and I think their videos are AWESOME! In this little tutorial, we learn all about vermicomposting - which is basically creating your very own, entirely self contained worm farm! You can keep this in your kitchen, or in your basement but its ... http://www.altestore.com/blog/Greenword/5003641523/2009/04/01/the-environmentals-vermicomposting/ Our own Amy Beaudet, one of our resident experts on all things solar thermal, was recently covered in a blog post on Boston Green Scene. Katina Fontes, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage who is EcoBroker Certified, wrote a great article all about our Solar Heating class here at ... http://www.altestore.com/blog/Greenword/5003641523/2009/04/01/we-got-blogged-boston-green-scene/ [caption id="attachment_196" align="alignright" width="219" caption="Spring in the Garden"][/caption] I’ve been itching to start. I’ve been planning the garden for so long – plotting the space, learning what I’ll need to do and scheduling out the work so it can all get accomplished. And now the time is almost upon us! I’ve ... http://www.altestore.com/blog/Greenword/5003641523/2009/03/31/sustainability-the-garden-series/ Please take one hour out of your evening on Saturday, March 28th, at 8:30PM, to join millions of people worldwide in an event called Earth Hour. You can read all about it at the Earth Hour website here: www.earthhour.org It's a worldwide, voluntary rolling local blackout! Is your house, neighborhood, township, city, region, ... http://www.altestore.com/blog/Greenword/5003641523/2009/03/19/earth-hour-saturday-march-28th-830pm-local-time/ My 3rd electric bill came in at the same usage as the 1st full month: 73kWh. My latest natural gas bill also came in and, though it wasn't as low as I'd anticipated in my last blog entry, it does show a substantial reduction over the previous tenant's usage. The actual ... http://www.altestore.com/blog/Greenword/5003641523/2009/03/12/more-energy-bills/ Somehow my consumption went up a whopping 25% to 91 kWh! Not sure what changed, but perhaps more running time on the furnace blower, given the cold winter temps. As for the gas bill, I just missed an opportunity to save money in the short term. The gas meters here are read ... http://www.altestore.com/blog/Greenword/5003641523/2009/02/04/second-electricity-bill/ Winter Procurement Notes from the AltE Store During the cold and snow season for many of us, our thoughts and projects turn to indoors and warmer past-times. Outdoor work is simply not practical or possible. But for those who wish to plan ahead, this time of year is a great opportunity ... http://www.altestore.com/blog/Greenword/5003641523/2009/01/28/an-in-depth-look-at-our-industry-from-one-of-our-men-on-the-re-street-doug-cate/