Dear Umbra,
Two questions: Does the colored ink in newspapers still contain
chemicals bad for a compost pile? Also, what about the colored ink
printed on cardboard boxes? I want to have a safe compost pile to use in
a garden.
Anonymous
Dearest Mysterious Reader,
Some readers may find gardening questions in February a bit jarring. By
choosing to answer this one, I'm taunting those of you who don't live in
the Pacific Northwest. True, we may be moistly imprisoned under an
unrelenting steely sky, daylight may be a dim memory, and mildew may be
our constant companion, but at least we can consider composting in
February. Ahh, compost. So helpful in relieving seasonal affective
disorder.
Extra! Extra! Newsprint is compostable.
Pigments combine with a "vehicle" and a "binder" to create specific
inks for various printing projects. The pigment and the vehicle are the
bad boys. Paper composting and mulching is haunted by the specter of the
heavy metals used as pigment in commercial inks in the past. For years,
the vehicle was petroleum-based, but the industry is slowly switching
over to soy- or vegetable-based inks. However, inks labeled "soy-based"
are still permitted (and likely) to contain some amount of petroleum.
Pigments themselves still contain heavy metals such as zinc and copper,
although overall amounts of heavy metals have been reduced. Although
toxins are present in quite small amounts, all the sources I consulted
agreed that contemporary printed newsprint, including colored newsprint,
and cardboard boxes are safe for garden use. Glossy inserts, shiny ink
of any sort, magazines, and colored paper do not make appropriate
compost or mulch materials, due to a higher prevalence of toxics within
the paper and ink, and likelihood of "de-inking" (ink sliding off the
paper into your garden).
One further thing: If you're gardening in an urban or suburban area,
ink is a drop in the contamination bucket. It's far more likely that
your soil will be contaminated by other sources, such as lead paint,
pavement runoff, or car exhaust that washes from building walls into the
soil. Get your soil tested for heavy metals before food gardening and
avoid food gardening within 10 feet of a building. What is toxic is
often invisible to the eye.
Bariumly,
Umbra
We at Greenspieler really like Umbra. Thank you Umbra once again for imparting us with your wisdom!
2.24.2004
Umbra Answers All About Fabric Softener
Dear Umbra,
With winter upon us, I'm thinking about a serious matter: fabric
softener. During the summer, I don't use any. However, with snow
looming, static cling is on my mind. Long story short, which is better:
liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets?
Allie
Shippensburg, Penn.
Dearest Allie,
Your home will be a happier, healthier place if no fabric softener
darkens your dryer. Both liquid and sheet contain a stunning amount of
notoriously toxic chemicals, which often serve to make the softener
smell pretty. Turns out fragrances are usually composed of a witch's
brew of solvents -- which explains why some folks come over all funny in
the presence of artificial scents.
Quite a few of the fabric-softener solvents, particularly if exposed to
heat, are hazardous when inhaled or when they come into contact with
skin. A less-toxic solution is to add a cup of white vinegar during the
final rinse cycle in your washing machine. I also suspect that if you
don't overdry your clothing -- that is, if you pull it out of the dryer
when it's still slightly damp to the touch -- you'll get less static.
And I'd recommend switching to all-natural fabrics such as cotton.
Warmly,
Umbra
With winter upon us, I'm thinking about a serious matter: fabric
softener. During the summer, I don't use any. However, with snow
looming, static cling is on my mind. Long story short, which is better:
liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets?
Allie
Shippensburg, Penn.
Dearest Allie,
Your home will be a happier, healthier place if no fabric softener
darkens your dryer. Both liquid and sheet contain a stunning amount of
notoriously toxic chemicals, which often serve to make the softener
smell pretty. Turns out fragrances are usually composed of a witch's
brew of solvents -- which explains why some folks come over all funny in
the presence of artificial scents.
Quite a few of the fabric-softener solvents, particularly if exposed to
heat, are hazardous when inhaled or when they come into contact with
skin. A less-toxic solution is to add a cup of white vinegar during the
final rinse cycle in your washing machine. I also suspect that if you
don't overdry your clothing -- that is, if you pull it out of the dryer
when it's still slightly damp to the touch -- you'll get less static.
And I'd recommend switching to all-natural fabrics such as cotton.
Warmly,
Umbra
2.20.2004
Farmer's take heart from Prince's stand on GM crops
Farmer's take heart from Prince's stand on GM crops
Steve Dube, The Western Mail
WELSH FARMERS last night lent their support to Prince Charles's call for a GM-free Britain.
Organic farmer Tom Latter welcomed the Prince's contribution and said it was doubly important because he had been voted Farming Personality of the Year by Farmers Weekly magazine last year.
Full Text Here!!
Steve Dube, The Western Mail
WELSH FARMERS last night lent their support to Prince Charles's call for a GM-free Britain.
Organic farmer Tom Latter welcomed the Prince's contribution and said it was doubly important because he had been voted Farming Personality of the Year by Farmers Weekly magazine last year.
Full Text Here!!
A short course in proposal writing.
Haga click aquí para el curso en Español
Introduction
The subject of this short course is proposal writing. But the proposal does not stand alone. It must be part of a process of planning and of research on, outreach to, and cultivation of potential foundation and corporate donors.
This process is grounded in the conviction that a partnership should develop between the nonprofit and the donor. When you spend a great deal of your time seeking money, it is hard to remember that it can also be difficult to give money away. In fact, the dollars contributed by a foundation or corporation have no value until they are attached to solid programs in the nonprofit sector.
This truly is an ideal partnership. The nonprofits have the ideas and the capacity to solve problems, but no dollars with which to implement them. The foundations and corporations have the financial resources but not the other resources needed to create programs. Bring the two together effectively, and the result is a dynamic collaboration.
You need to follow a step-by-step process in the search for private dollars. It takes time and persistence to succeed. After you have written a proposal, it could take as long as a year to obtain the funds needed to carry it out. And even a perfectly written proposal submitted to the right prospect might be rejected for any number of reasons.
People Power: Capturing The Body's Energy For Work On and Off Earth
People Power: Capturing The Body's Energy For Work On and Off Earth
By Erik Baard
Special to SPACE.com
posted: 07:00 am ET
28 November 2001
Covert military operations and space shuttle missions are both burdened by the fact that they rely on an inefficient, energy-wasting machine: the human body. Considering one of the biggest logistical problems planners face is getting power to equipment in remote places like Afghanistan or the moon, researchers are devoting their efforts to cut some of those losses through "energy harvesting" from the human body.
If that gives you creepy images of people wired up as batteries a la "The Matrix," stop fretting. What NASA and the Pentagon want to do is scoop up electrons from what bodies in normal activity produce: heat, motion, flexing and stretching, compression, urine, and body heat. This is quite different from other human-powered schemes that take extra exertion, like spring or dynamo flashlights and radios that are wound-up by a special handle, flashlights that are squeezed by the user to generate charge, or flywheels that store energy from a cord that is pulled.
A simple version of a piezoelectric, energy-harvesting device, these sneakers broadcast a location signal while the wearer walks.
According to the Center for Space Power and Advanced Electronics, a NASA commercial center in Alabama, the human body is on average 15% fat, capable of producing 11,000 watt hours. When the average Joe eats his daily bread, he takes in 3,300 watt hours. The charge rate is about 7kW if the waiter starts pushing you out the door after a half hour lunch, according to the Center. "Clearly the amount of energy consumed by an individual is sufficient to provide power for electronic devices if a suitable method can be found to convert a small fraction of that energy to electricity," the Center concludes in a report on the subject.
Broken into usable terms, waiting to be harvested are 81 watts from a sleeping person, 128 from a soldier standing at ease, 163 from a walking person, 407 from a briskly walking person, 1,048 from a long-distance runner, and 1,630 from a sprinter, according to the center. But of course there’s not 100% capture. Body heat, for example, can only be converted with 3% efficiency with current thermoelectric materials.
Advances in nanotechnology and materials science are causing energy needs to drop at the same time production and transfer of it is increasing. The military applications are humble still, though, aimed at small gear like personal battery chargers, medical sensors, displays, gun sights, and range finders. Boots that turn the compression of a compound into voltage have already powered a radio, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. NASA is hoping to feed a range of body monitors, electronics and mission-specific devices. In the commercial sphere, companies are racing to power simple things like watches for now, with an eye to scaling up to handheld PDAs in the future.
Some of the most promising mechanisms for passively converting human body functions into electricity are:
Piezoelectric devices: Piezoelectric substances, like some ceramics, also generate electrical energy from mechanical strain but without the need for voltage to be applied. This well-understood material is the core of "heel strike" devices that generate electricity from walking. "Generating 1-2 watts per shoe is not out of the question. A major issue that remains is the durability of these devices," Dr. Robert J. Nowak, program manager for energy harvesting at Darpa, wrote to SPACE.com. Great for soldiers, bad for astronauts: "giant steps are what you take, walking on the moon."
Urine-based fuel cell: Yes, you can turn pee into power and not just by turning a turbine after a few beers. First subject urea to enzymatic hydrolysis to make carbon dioxide and ammonia, and then oxidize the ammonia to nitrogen and water. But the center notes that "one problem with the system is the need for alkaline conditions that may require transport of sodium hydroxide, a hazardous compound. Also, to achieve power generation in the range of 0.5 - 1W, a system to concentrate the breakdown products of urea, such as reverse osmosis, will be necessary." But for astronauts and soldiers on the run, "one attractive feature of this fuel cell concept is the production of water as a by-product of the system."
Inertial energy scavenging: You can own a piece of this technology already – some Seiko watches are powered by a weight that swings as you move, driving a tiny generator. No one expects to generate much electricity from these systems, but deployed in each element needing electricity they could do the trick in concert. Also, while gravity is absent in space, inertia is not.
People Power: Capturing The Body's Energy For Work On and Off Earth (cont.)
Electromagnetic generator: Large muscular groups (especially legs) can generate electricity by simple motions against gravity and small direct current permanent magnet motors. But the center cautions, "there is little or no efforts within the scientific community to design efficient small generators of the type needed for harvesting of human energy."
Thermoelectric materials: These materials convert body heat into electricity by using combinations of materials (metals or today, new ceramics) that are poor thermal conductors and good electrical conductors. When two of them at different temperatures come into contact, electrons migrate, charging a battery or creating usable current through something called the Seebeck Effect. The trouble is that you need great temperature differences to get significant energy, and "on Earth most places are pretty close to body temperature," notes Dr. Henry Brandhurst, director of the center. And what about in the cold depths of space? For the inner solar system at least, photovoltaic panels seem like a better bet, he says.
A simple version of a piezoelectric, energy-harvesting device, these sneakers broadcast a location signal while the wearer walks. Image courtesy the IEEE. Click to enlarge.
But that skepticism hasn’t slowed down efforts at NASA to improve the technology, and one company is already pushing it as an off-the-shelf product. Applied Digital Solutions is unveiling "Thermo Life." The company is "working closely with a watch manufacturer," says Keith Bolton, the chief technology officer. Already the technology has proven itself capable of keeping analog watches ticking, he reports.
And Dr. Rama Venkatasubramanian of the Research Triangle Institute reported in Nature this month a breakthrough in new materials that could double or triple the output of thermoelectric generators.
Electrostrictive polymers: These materials create charge when stretched after voltage is induced through them. No prototype has been made, and there are concerns about how quickly this material might wear out. But it does dovetail nicely with NASA’s conception of the spacesuit of the future, which will be skin tight to maintain mechanical pressure on blood systems in place of the ambient Earth air pressure replicated in "puffy" suits today.
Electrostatic force arrays: (Also called Integrated Force Arrays) A cousin of electrostrictive polymers, this is a new technology. It’s expensive and untested in power generating applications, or for simple durability.
Thank you w3.space.com , click here for full text @ site
By Erik Baard
Special to SPACE.com
posted: 07:00 am ET
28 November 2001
Covert military operations and space shuttle missions are both burdened by the fact that they rely on an inefficient, energy-wasting machine: the human body. Considering one of the biggest logistical problems planners face is getting power to equipment in remote places like Afghanistan or the moon, researchers are devoting their efforts to cut some of those losses through "energy harvesting" from the human body.
If that gives you creepy images of people wired up as batteries a la "The Matrix," stop fretting. What NASA and the Pentagon want to do is scoop up electrons from what bodies in normal activity produce: heat, motion, flexing and stretching, compression, urine, and body heat. This is quite different from other human-powered schemes that take extra exertion, like spring or dynamo flashlights and radios that are wound-up by a special handle, flashlights that are squeezed by the user to generate charge, or flywheels that store energy from a cord that is pulled.
A simple version of a piezoelectric, energy-harvesting device, these sneakers broadcast a location signal while the wearer walks.
According to the Center for Space Power and Advanced Electronics, a NASA commercial center in Alabama, the human body is on average 15% fat, capable of producing 11,000 watt hours. When the average Joe eats his daily bread, he takes in 3,300 watt hours. The charge rate is about 7kW if the waiter starts pushing you out the door after a half hour lunch, according to the Center. "Clearly the amount of energy consumed by an individual is sufficient to provide power for electronic devices if a suitable method can be found to convert a small fraction of that energy to electricity," the Center concludes in a report on the subject.
Broken into usable terms, waiting to be harvested are 81 watts from a sleeping person, 128 from a soldier standing at ease, 163 from a walking person, 407 from a briskly walking person, 1,048 from a long-distance runner, and 1,630 from a sprinter, according to the center. But of course there’s not 100% capture. Body heat, for example, can only be converted with 3% efficiency with current thermoelectric materials.
Advances in nanotechnology and materials science are causing energy needs to drop at the same time production and transfer of it is increasing. The military applications are humble still, though, aimed at small gear like personal battery chargers, medical sensors, displays, gun sights, and range finders. Boots that turn the compression of a compound into voltage have already powered a radio, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. NASA is hoping to feed a range of body monitors, electronics and mission-specific devices. In the commercial sphere, companies are racing to power simple things like watches for now, with an eye to scaling up to handheld PDAs in the future.
Some of the most promising mechanisms for passively converting human body functions into electricity are:
Piezoelectric devices: Piezoelectric substances, like some ceramics, also generate electrical energy from mechanical strain but without the need for voltage to be applied. This well-understood material is the core of "heel strike" devices that generate electricity from walking. "Generating 1-2 watts per shoe is not out of the question. A major issue that remains is the durability of these devices," Dr. Robert J. Nowak, program manager for energy harvesting at Darpa, wrote to SPACE.com. Great for soldiers, bad for astronauts: "giant steps are what you take, walking on the moon."
Urine-based fuel cell: Yes, you can turn pee into power and not just by turning a turbine after a few beers. First subject urea to enzymatic hydrolysis to make carbon dioxide and ammonia, and then oxidize the ammonia to nitrogen and water. But the center notes that "one problem with the system is the need for alkaline conditions that may require transport of sodium hydroxide, a hazardous compound. Also, to achieve power generation in the range of 0.5 - 1W, a system to concentrate the breakdown products of urea, such as reverse osmosis, will be necessary." But for astronauts and soldiers on the run, "one attractive feature of this fuel cell concept is the production of water as a by-product of the system."
Inertial energy scavenging: You can own a piece of this technology already – some Seiko watches are powered by a weight that swings as you move, driving a tiny generator. No one expects to generate much electricity from these systems, but deployed in each element needing electricity they could do the trick in concert. Also, while gravity is absent in space, inertia is not.
People Power: Capturing The Body's Energy For Work On and Off Earth (cont.)
Electromagnetic generator: Large muscular groups (especially legs) can generate electricity by simple motions against gravity and small direct current permanent magnet motors. But the center cautions, "there is little or no efforts within the scientific community to design efficient small generators of the type needed for harvesting of human energy."
Thermoelectric materials: These materials convert body heat into electricity by using combinations of materials (metals or today, new ceramics) that are poor thermal conductors and good electrical conductors. When two of them at different temperatures come into contact, electrons migrate, charging a battery or creating usable current through something called the Seebeck Effect. The trouble is that you need great temperature differences to get significant energy, and "on Earth most places are pretty close to body temperature," notes Dr. Henry Brandhurst, director of the center. And what about in the cold depths of space? For the inner solar system at least, photovoltaic panels seem like a better bet, he says.
A simple version of a piezoelectric, energy-harvesting device, these sneakers broadcast a location signal while the wearer walks. Image courtesy the IEEE. Click to enlarge.
But that skepticism hasn’t slowed down efforts at NASA to improve the technology, and one company is already pushing it as an off-the-shelf product. Applied Digital Solutions is unveiling "Thermo Life." The company is "working closely with a watch manufacturer," says Keith Bolton, the chief technology officer. Already the technology has proven itself capable of keeping analog watches ticking, he reports.
And Dr. Rama Venkatasubramanian of the Research Triangle Institute reported in Nature this month a breakthrough in new materials that could double or triple the output of thermoelectric generators.
Electrostrictive polymers: These materials create charge when stretched after voltage is induced through them. No prototype has been made, and there are concerns about how quickly this material might wear out. But it does dovetail nicely with NASA’s conception of the spacesuit of the future, which will be skin tight to maintain mechanical pressure on blood systems in place of the ambient Earth air pressure replicated in "puffy" suits today.
Electrostatic force arrays: (Also called Integrated Force Arrays) A cousin of electrostrictive polymers, this is a new technology. It’s expensive and untested in power generating applications, or for simple durability.
Thank you w3.space.com , click here for full text @ site