Many of my peers are surprised to find out that I have a blog. They want to know why I have one, what I write about, and who reads it. For those who are curious, this is it.
Why?
There are a lot of reasons, from having fun to improving my writing. Mainly though, I want to control the information about me that people can readily access on the Internet. With a unique name like mine, a Google search for my name returns pages of results that are, in fact, about me. Showing up on Google is great, until something pops up that you don't like. What can you do about that? Not much. But as ecotoxicologists are fond of saying, dilution is the solution to pollution. If there is information out there about me that I don't want people to see, it's on the 6th or 7th page of results because of the web presence I'm developing.
What do you write about?
Whatever strikes my fancy, really. My broad area of interest is sustainability, and I try to keep topics related to personal sustainable living practices, sustainable food, and energy. The last is my professional interest, which I have just added to my list of blogging topics. Potential employers will Google me. They will find my blog. When they get there, I want them to see that I am actively engaged in the conversation about energy. That is just one more thing that might set me apart from other applicants.
Who reads it?
At the moment, my blog is in its infancy. Sometimes I don't think anyone reads it. I have a little analytical program set up to track visitor-ship, and it tells me more and more people are looking at my blog. This is good, but I've got a ways to go before I can truly call myself a "blogger".
Want more information?
Always thought about starting a blog but don't know how?
A friend of mine happens to be an expert at this. Not just a friend, but a former work study student that worked for me. Yeah, that's right, she's younger than me and I'm referring to her as an "expert". Basically, she saw the job she wanted, set out on a grand social marketing journey, got the job, and blogged all along the way. In the process she has developed quite the following, and a business. Check her out:
http://marianlibrarian.com/
10.20.2010
10.18.2010
Why Raising Chickens Isn't Crazy
If you've been reading this blog lately, you've read a lot about how my roommates and I have decided to raise chickens. So far it's mostly been the "how" of this equation, and I figure it's about time for the "why".
First let me say that my roommates (C & R) and I are pretty conscious eaters. We are all vegetarians, and we buy as much of our food at the farmers market as we can, especially eggs. The three of us have already been sold on the health and environmental benefits of eggs from sustainable farms in our area. That made raising chickens kind of a no-brainer for us, so we just went ahead and did it.
However, as was the case with me becoming a vegetarian, we have since learned about many other benefits to raising chickens in your backyard. They actually are good for your yard (when your dog doesn't turn the area around the coop into a muddy racetrack). With the chicken tractor, which gets moved every week, the waste is spread around the yard relatively evenly, so it acts as a fertilizer. Also, the chickens peck and scratch the yard, which promotes grass growth. Given our recent dry spell, our yard could use a little help. Additionally, chickens eat bugs like ticks and spiders (but not so many as to disturb the overall system).
Another slightly less quantitative benefit is the sheer joy I get out of having them around. Their chirps are delightful, and there is something mesmerizing about watching them peck and scratch at the ground. It is becoming habit to have my breakfast on the back deck, watching the chickens. I never expected to get so much out of my new feathered friends!
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| The girls in the run section of their chicken tractor, 8 weeks of age. |
First let me say that my roommates (C & R) and I are pretty conscious eaters. We are all vegetarians, and we buy as much of our food at the farmers market as we can, especially eggs. The three of us have already been sold on the health and environmental benefits of eggs from sustainable farms in our area. That made raising chickens kind of a no-brainer for us, so we just went ahead and did it.
However, as was the case with me becoming a vegetarian, we have since learned about many other benefits to raising chickens in your backyard. They actually are good for your yard (when your dog doesn't turn the area around the coop into a muddy racetrack). With the chicken tractor, which gets moved every week, the waste is spread around the yard relatively evenly, so it acts as a fertilizer. Also, the chickens peck and scratch the yard, which promotes grass growth. Given our recent dry spell, our yard could use a little help. Additionally, chickens eat bugs like ticks and spiders (but not so many as to disturb the overall system).
Another slightly less quantitative benefit is the sheer joy I get out of having them around. Their chirps are delightful, and there is something mesmerizing about watching them peck and scratch at the ground. It is becoming habit to have my breakfast on the back deck, watching the chickens. I never expected to get so much out of my new feathered friends!
10.16.2010
Oil, Gas, and the Nation's Energy Future
I spent last weekend in Houston, TX, learning about the oil and gas industry with a group of my classmates, a PhD student, and the head of the Energy and Environment concentration. Why Houston? Well, it's the hub of hydrocarbons in the US. Why oil and gas? Because our current and future energy systems are and will be based on oil and gas.
You might be surprised that I would say that, given my obvious environmental bent. However, what I learned last weekend makes it clear that oil and gas (o & g) will be with us for a long time, and I'm going to have to learn to live with that. In fact, I'm going to have to learn to work with that to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in spite of our dependence on o & g.
What did I learn this weekend? It can be summed up in 3 lessons, which I will address in brief below.
1. Climate change legislation will not happen during the current administration.
There was much excitement over the summer about the climate legislation that reached the Senate. However, the bill fell flat on its face (for many reasons, not the least of which is that climate change has become a partisan issue instead of a scientific one). With elections coming up next month, we are likely to see a shift in the House and Senate that will not work in the planet's favor. Sadly, it looks like we'll need to wait until the next administration.
2. The price of oil and gas largely determines the feasibility of renewable energy.
This seems obvious, but it became even more evident during my time in Houston. People want to pursue the alternatives. Texas has high potential wind capacity, but no one is willing to build wind farms in West Texas because there is no infrastructure to get the power to the populated areas that need it. Of course, no one is willing to put in the necessary infrastructure because there are no wind farms to connect to. Until the price of oil is high enough to offer monetary incentive to seek out alternatives, we won't do renewable. We just won't.
3. Natural gas could be an appropriate, lower-carbon substitute for coal.
This is the idea I found most interesting about the weekend. We spent a lot of time talking about natural gas, both conventional and unconventional forms. The price of gas has dropped significantly, in part due to technology that has increased domestic production. While this does not give us any reason to move towards renewable energy, it could make a compelling case to move away from coal. Coal has traditionally been an inexpensive, easy material with which to generate electricity. However, if the price of natural gas stays low enough, it would offer a pretty attractive alternative to coal, at least environmentally speaking--it emits about 50% less greenhouse gases than coal. It's not perfect, but it's a start.
You might be surprised that I would say that, given my obvious environmental bent. However, what I learned last weekend makes it clear that oil and gas (o & g) will be with us for a long time, and I'm going to have to learn to live with that. In fact, I'm going to have to learn to work with that to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in spite of our dependence on o & g.
What did I learn this weekend? It can be summed up in 3 lessons, which I will address in brief below.
1. Climate change legislation will not happen during the current administration.
There was much excitement over the summer about the climate legislation that reached the Senate. However, the bill fell flat on its face (for many reasons, not the least of which is that climate change has become a partisan issue instead of a scientific one). With elections coming up next month, we are likely to see a shift in the House and Senate that will not work in the planet's favor. Sadly, it looks like we'll need to wait until the next administration.
2. The price of oil and gas largely determines the feasibility of renewable energy.
This seems obvious, but it became even more evident during my time in Houston. People want to pursue the alternatives. Texas has high potential wind capacity, but no one is willing to build wind farms in West Texas because there is no infrastructure to get the power to the populated areas that need it. Of course, no one is willing to put in the necessary infrastructure because there are no wind farms to connect to. Until the price of oil is high enough to offer monetary incentive to seek out alternatives, we won't do renewable. We just won't.
3. Natural gas could be an appropriate, lower-carbon substitute for coal.
This is the idea I found most interesting about the weekend. We spent a lot of time talking about natural gas, both conventional and unconventional forms. The price of gas has dropped significantly, in part due to technology that has increased domestic production. While this does not give us any reason to move towards renewable energy, it could make a compelling case to move away from coal. Coal has traditionally been an inexpensive, easy material with which to generate electricity. However, if the price of natural gas stays low enough, it would offer a pretty attractive alternative to coal, at least environmentally speaking--it emits about 50% less greenhouse gases than coal. It's not perfect, but it's a start.
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