Earth Day

Happy Earth Day mes amis.  Be an earthy friend today (and everyday).  Don't do this b/c Al Gore or some money bent yahoos convince you the earth is too hot.  Do it b/c you have to live here the rest of your life and so do your decedents.

Water barrel expansion

I finally got my overspill barrel installed.  It is another 55 gallon barrel.  I put a piece of clear vinyl tubing (3/4") in the overflow fitting of the first barrel and then ran it to a hole cut into the overspill barrel.  I also put a screened inlet on the overflow barrel so it can collect a very small amount of rain from the top as well even before the first barrel is full and begins to spill over.  I have chosen not to install a faucet on the overflow barrel, I plan to use a small inline aquarium pump when the water is needed.  This completes the functional portion of the project.  It is now operational however it is, as you can see, quite ugly.  The beautification process will gradually take place over time.  I will post progress.

Fresnel lens experiment 1

I first learned about Fresnel lenses from our friends at http://GreenPowerScience.com after seeing some of their videos I was compelled to attempt a few experiments myself.  It is amazing what power these little lenses have and what applications they can be used for.  Solar cooking, energy production, and water desalination are just a few.  I get a dry pine stick to burst into flame in only about 3 seconds, this was a partly cloudy day around 2:30pm so the sun was not all that bright either.  I burn a piece of wood.  You may think its kids stuff but imagine trying to start a fire with friction in a survival situation, it could take ages but if the sun is out, you can do it in seconds.



This is my first intro experiment, I plan to try and duplicate some experiments from GreenPowerScience.com as well as do some solar exploration of my own.

Rain in Georgia

It's rain (ironically) that has been keeping me from furthering my rain barrel project and derailed any solar explorations. I couldn't just sit idly by so I bought a bag of Sun Chips with biodegradable packaging. WARNING: The bag is unbelievably loud. We have to make sacrifices to make the world less toxic, I just traded in quiet bags for compostable ones.

Rain Barrel

This is my first water barrel project. It is underway and updates will follow.

I made sure that a board atop 3 columns of 2 cinder blocks each was level and situated the 55 gallon barrel on the stand. I left space on the stand for an overspill barrel that I hope to install tomorrow. The overspill valve on the existing barrel is a 3/4" fitting at the top. It can be used to direct water away from the home or in my case spill into an additional storage unit.