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Journalist Tik Root tested the energy-efficiency of the typical approaches to boiling water, and wrote up his findings in the New York Times. Turns out the electric kettle is quite a bit more energy-efficient than either the stovetop or the microwave.

I like my electric kettle. It takes just over a minute to heat up the 0.6 liter of water (20 ounces) that I heat up on a typical day. When heating water for coffee, I do not let it reach the boiling point. My ideal temperature for water to pour over coffee in my reusable filter is considerably less than the boiling point. I think it might be about 180. I have learned to hear when the kettle water reaches the temperature I like. There’s a certain set of ticking sounds and whooshing noises that comes well before actual boiling. And I’ve read that the differential represents a considerable energy savings.

Now, if you really want to be an eco-ninja, you could boil water with a Rocket Stove or Kelly Kettle. All it takes is a handful of dead twigs or other small fuel readily available from the natural environment.

Here’s a handy calculator by PhD candidate Hanna Pamula for computing your plastic footprint. Thanks for your work Hanna! (And her site also offers links to 10 other eco calculators, such as Car vs. Bike.)

According to the calculator, my plastic consumption comes in at about 5% of the U.S. average. But that is still over 700 pounds in my lifetime! I got rated an “ecological ninja” but still have plenty of room for improvement.

One of my latest areas of focus is trying to remember more consistently, when I go out to eat or drink, to ask in advance for a non-plastic drinking glass and no straw, etc. I just don’t think of it sometimes because I never buy that stuff or use it at home. But I’m getting better at remembering!

For your enjoyment today, I offer this article from Vox.com on why walkable cities are good for people and the economy.

I particularly like this quote from the article: “The most common condition is the poor person who can afford a car but it totally disrupts their finances … The unfortunate circumstance is that most Americans live in places where car ownership is mandatory.” (On this subject, AAA reports that the average cost of owning a car in 2016 was $8,500. And I’ve heard significantly higher figures from other sources.)

I get so mad when I see people of limited financial means getting eaten alive by automobile ownership!

It is challenging but not impossible to retrofit places that have become unwalkable due to the suburbanization and “automobilization” of street planning and development.

Easier, though, if we can get proactive about preserving existing historic streetscapes and town layouts, which were based on walking as the main way for people to get around. Here are some thoughts from Strong Towns on the benefits of walkability. Strong Towns is a powerful grassroots movement for addressing, at the root level, common woes of cities and towns (from fiscal to social).

Another walkability article for you: AARP on the “20-minute village” (a new (old) concept that is gaining popularity). “Although we tend to think of walking to work, shopping, cafés and parks as big city amenities, traveling by foot was the foundation of community life in small towns, suburbs and villages before the dominance of cars, parking lots and malls.”

The article talks about a walkable village that rose out of the ruins of a defunct shopping mall: “Belmar — a wholly new community rising from the ruins of the Villa Italia Mall in suburban Lakewood, Colorado — features a town center complete with stores and eateries of every description as well as an Irish pub, bowling alley, ice skating rink and flourishing street life, all conveniently surrounded by townhomes and apartments.”

And from Citylab, 10 Techniques for Making Cities More Walkable.

And finally, from @JeffSpeckAICP on Twitter:

Small brain: How many cars can we move?

Big brain: How many people can we move?

Galactic brain: Why do we need to move people? Put their daily needs close at hand. #Walkability

That’s all for now! I have some other work to do, and then I’m going to meet a friend for lunch at a place that’s a nice 15-minute walk from my house.

PS. In this blog I explore at leisurely length, and in no particular order, a variety of threads related to sustainable living. If you also want a handy, compact, ordered guide that contains in condensed form the basic principles for designing your own low-footprint lifestyle, get yourself a copy of my book Deep Green! It’s available on Amazon or direct through me.

1) Cottage industries (garage-based welding shops, repair shops, cabinetmaking operations, etc.) have been almost completely zoned out of residential neighborhoods because people don’t want the noise and traffic of commerce. But it occurred to me that our “quiet, non-industrial” residential neighborhoods nowadays are filled with the noise and fumes of leafblowers, weed-whackers, ride-on mowers, and landscaping company trucks! The noise level in our quiet neighborhoods has become rather deafening.

2) Until fairly recently in U.S. history, a large percentage of us were farmers, or somehow employed in agriculture. But farming as an occupation came to be seen as laborious drudgery. So we fled the farm for the cubicle. But it occurred to me that we are still farmers! Only difference is, we no longer grow food or wildlife habitat. We are farmers of vanity landscaping, chained to the lawn-treadmill. Oh, and actual food-growing agriculture has been zoned out of most residential neighborhoods. <Cue the theme song to “Green Acres” here.>

Just a couple of unintended ironies that crossed my mind recently. One lesson I see here is that taking some action purely to get rid of or get away from something often produces just a slightly different-flavored version of the situation we had labeled undesirable.

How about you, what would you add to this list?

The City of Atlanta is getting ready to create what will be the largest public food forest in the USA to date. It will be on a 7-acre parcel of land that currently sits vacant.

Atlanta’s move is part of the city’s plan to “strengthen local food economy to ensure 85 percent of the city residents are within one-half mile of fresh food access by 2021.”

Many towns and cities have created food forests in parks, on vacant land, or along public right-of-way.

In my city, Daytona Beach, I can envision a food forest corridor extending along Martin Luther King Blvd (it could be incorporated into the upcoming landscape improvement plan for that street), and continuing along Mary McLeod Bethune Avenue.

Besides providing residents with access to fresh food, the plantings of fruit trees, vines, and vegetables would have several more benefits including:

– improve stormwater mitigation, flood control

– increase urban shade canopy

– reduce crime by creating an attractive amenity that draws people out of their houses to spend time in the public space

– increase property values, make our urban core more attractive to both residents and visitors

– products of the forest-garden would create potential income opportunities for local residents

– shady, walkable corridor would boost local businesses by increasing foot traffic

– “Trojan horse” for the movement to eliminate use of herbicides & pesticides in public spaces

Besides urban rights-of-way, another potential site for food forests is in golf-course residential developments where the golf course has become financially insolvent due to residents’ declining interest in golf (and declining willingness to pay the mandatory club membership fees). This is a growing issue nationwide. We could transform such golf courses into food forest/fitness parks with walking trails. Residents unwilling or unable to pay golf-course membership fees might be happy to pay the fee if it were buying them fresh produce and a walking trail.

Residential developments offering a food forest (or a community-focused farm) as an amenity are called “agri-hoods” and are becoming very popular. The presence of fresh food has been shown to significantly increase property values.

Where in your city or neighborhood would you like to put a food forest(s)?

“I have a large seashell collection which I keep scattered on beaches all over the world.”  — Steven Wright (as quoted in the newsletter of Joan Pancoe, one of my favorite writers on metaphysical/spiritual matters).

Micro eco actions / Bring disproportionately high satisfaction! / And though they are small, / they affect us all! / And the #GrassrootsGreenMobilization gains traction!

What are some of your favorite micro eco actions?

Here are a couple of mine:

• When you find yourself stuck with non-recyclable plastic that’s flexible, such as those thick plastic bags that are used as packaging for cereal and crackers, or for potting soil, cut the plastic into suitably sized pieces and use as liner material for plant pots. The plastic helps to hold the water in so the plant doesn’t dry out so quickly. When I’m potting a plant these days, I like to start with a thin bottom layer of plastic that would otherwise become trash, then add cardboard or fabric, then rocks or wood chips, then the soil and the plant. (Once the plant is planted, I usually add mulch on top too.)
• If you like to reuse postal envelopes, the photo above shows an alternative technique: Take apart the envelope, turn it inside out, and secure it with a bit of Elmer’s glue or glue-stick. Presto, brand new writing surface! This method is great for reusing envelopes that have a lot of stamps and writing on them but are still in good shape; for business reply envelopes you’re not using because you interact with the business online rather than by postal mail, etc.
• I sometimes enjoy mixed drinks with Coke or ginger ale as the mixer. But I don’t enjoy the single-use plastic bottle! So I take one of those giant “Double Gulp” plastic cups (I have about a dozen that have been left behind by departing guests and housemates) and fill it up at the fountain at the convenience store. And keep it in my fridge where it lasts indefinitely, good for many drinks’ worth. (True, the carbonation doesn’t last, but I’m not that picky; I’m mainly after the flavor.) This is a VERY micro eco action (a more major action would be giving up soft drinks entirely, for example), but it makes me happy because it lets me enjoy a Coke now and then without the guilt of the plastic bottle.

May you take delight in all of your eco actions large and small! As I mention in my book, enjoyment is contagious and may be the best ally of green-minded social movements. Or of any beneficial social movement!

By way of a supplemental reading treat for this post, I offer you this gem of an essay about the power of small local initiatives. This piece is actually the preface to a book by John Thackara, called How To Thrive in the Next Economy — Designing Tomorrow’s World Today. But it stands on its own as a fine essay. Enjoy! (And I think I might need to read the book too.)