Al Pasternak's Blog

ChangeSomething - Free Geek Vancouver

Al Pasternak — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:51:22 -0700

$1,000 to Free Geek Vancouver

They take computer parts free of charge [except CRT monitors $10] and

1) reuse them

2) rebuild them

3) and give away for free

in exchange for 24 hours of your volunteer time.

Non-profits in the GVRD er, Metro Vancouver area can apply to get a free computer.

What they cannot reuse, they recycle locally "...so that we can hold those recyclers accountable, and so that fuel is not wasted in transport. We prefer to recycle in BC whenever possible, and we don't want to send materials outside Canada or the US. These countries' environmental restrictions tend to hold recyclers more responsible than recyclers abroad. We absolutely refuse to send materials to a non-OECD country, in accordance with the Basel Convention. As a last resort for materials that cannot be recycled locally, we might send equipment to OECD countries, only using recyclers that can document sustainable processes. This sort of thought process and accountability - evaluating options and choosing the one that's the least harmful (and the most helpful) for people and the environment - is important to us."

They have a Wishlist [near the bottom of the page]

I have no personal or business connection to this organization.

Worms for composting available in Vancouver/Lower Mainland [and elsewhere]

Al Pasternak — Fri, 25 May 2007 13:14:50 -0700

My focus on composting and sustainability has led me to some interesting places on the ‘net. Lately, I’ve been looking for extra compost bins on Vancouver Craigslist. While reading the posts, I find many people asking for worms aka wrigglers to start their own worm bins. This is great news.... I am happy to see people take the steps to reduce their food waste.

I have replied by email a number of times to individuals with this information:

City Famer’s Worm Composting page

City Farmer’s Worm Supplier page includes suppliers in BC, Canada, The U.S.A and from around the world.

The City of Vancouver

has a limited number of Worm Composters available at the low price of $25. The units come complete with the bin, lid and tray, worms, bedding and instructions, and a mandatory one hour workshop at the Compost Demonstration Garden [aka City Farmer - Al]. To register for the workshops or to get more information, call the Compost Hotline at 604-736-2250.

The GVRD’s Composting and Yard Trimmings page has a A Guide to Composting with Worms [.pdf file]

Finally, if you live in Vancouver, I have thousands of worms in my compost bins if you want to come over and sort through the stuff. Call or email me.

Also posted on my blog

Metropolis at Metrotown offers free e-waste recycling until 22 April 07

Al Pasternak — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 07:48:10 -0700

I found this on Vancouver Craigslist

Earth Day coming up on Saturday…. Boy are they in for a surprise with the amount of stuff that will show up.

Metropolis at Metrotown

Got Old Electronics? Anyone with old computers, printers and electronics is encouraged to drop by Metropolis at Metrotown’s Atrium Court between April 16 -22. Metropolis at Metrotown will recycle all electronics for free!

Bonus: “What’s more? Get a free herb planter in exchange for electronics and help lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions while quantities last!”

ACCEPTABLE - Electronics

Telecommunications equipment
Telephone systems
All Television types
VCR’s
3M Players
Electronic games
Sony Play Stations 1 – 2 – 3
Radios
CD Players
Cellular phones
PC (personal computer)
Monitors CRT’s
Mainframe computers
Scanners
Printers
Fax Machines
Photocopiers
Scientific equipment
Toner cartridges
Photographic sound & visual recording equipment
Cameras
Car stereos
Electric ballasts
Electronic wiring
Power cables
Irons
Watches

Time: 10:00 am - 9:00 pm Mon - Fri

9:30 am - 9:00 pm Sat

11:00 am - 6:00 pm Sun

Location: Atrium Court. Ground Level

Other resources for e-waste recycling:

Alternative Disposal & Recycling Locations

http://freegeekvancouver.org/

RCBC:
e-waste end of life electronic equipment

Starting in 2008 all e-waste in the GVRD will be banned from landfill sites:
http://www.encorpinc.com/electronics/

[Cross posted on my blog]

Seed balls planted - Watch 'em grow!

Al Pasternak — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 16:18:35 -0700

As promised, we did this today and it took two of us just over an hour to finish the job.

You see pictures taken as they grow here or here.

April Fool's Day seed ball planting - 7th & Hemlock 11:00AM - Noon

Al Pasternak — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 13:59:48 -0700

We made the seed balls! Now it is time to plant them....

Announcing a new event for The Vancouver Guerilla Gardening Meetup Group!

What: April Fool's Day seed ball planting - 7th & Hemlock
When: Sunday, April 1, 11:00 AM
Event fee: CAD1.00 per person
Where: Click this link to find out more!

Event Description: Sunday, April 1, 2007 - 11:00AM - Noon

Anyone who reads this can attend this event.

Dress up in costume, wear a funny hat. Hundreds of cars will be driving by as we do this.

It won't take long. Less than an hour, so don't be late.

The median strip is a small space to work on, so if many people show up we may have to split the work into different "teams" and work 10 or 15ft/3 - 5m at a time. There is a pedestrian controlled traffic light at 7th we can activate for safe access.

Where exactly is this place? Near the Wicked Cafe

We are asking for $1 so we have funds to pay for the Meetup website, buy more seeds, supplies etc.

If you want to do something social afterwards, there are many cafes and restaurants in the area.

City Farmer: Sharing Backyards in Greater Vancouver

Al Pasternak — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 09:56:58 -0800

Sharing Backyards in Greater Vancouver

City Farmer has made this map/list of those who are both looking for space to garden, and those offering garden space. If you don’t see a suitable partner, add yourself to the list and wait for a call. Keep checking back to see if a match turns up. Well done!

Local Cooling helps reduce computer energy use and shows savings

Al Pasternak — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 13:00:38 -0800

Yes I know, techies/geeks can adjust shutdown options on their computers to save energy. I do it too. This application tracks how many computers are using their program and the net energy savings in terms of KWhs, gallons of oil [barrels would be better - divide by 55] and the number of trees needed to balance the now saved carbon emissions.

As a beta program, right now the stats are basic and don't include the number of computers that team and/or companies have using the program, but I have a fix for that. See below.

"More than 30 billion kilowatt-hours of energy is wasted because many of us simply forget to shut down our computers when we’re not using them. If we could just improve the efficiency of how we use our PCs, the savings in energy costs would be over $3 billion dollars! The CO2 emissions from just 15 computers are equivalent in energy terms to the gas consumption used by one car.

....

By adjusting the power mode settings our advanced algorithms will predict how much you will save based on past PC usage and statistical data. Every time LocalCooling saves power by either turning of your screen, putting your hard drive to sleep when not used or shutting down your PC when you are away your savings stats will start to grow. Download LocalCooling today and optimize your PC's energy efficiency in minutes.

...

Our goal is to introduce 100,000,000 PC users into the Local Cooling community. If just 100 million of us optimize the efficiency of our computers’ energy consumption, we could prevent over 300 billion kg of CO2 gas emissions, equivalent to over 1.8 billion gallons of oil, in just the first year alone."*

LocalCooling.com - Fight Global Warming From Your Desktop

Team challenge

When you create your profile, in the form field that says "Join a group" put ChangeEverythingFriends

Send an email to aapATgreatdayDOTca with your stats feed after you install the program and I will add you to this team page, which also shows you how to turn of the beep sounds the program makes.

For people and companies with multiple computers:

You download the program and login with the same account on all computers. Once you have been running the application on all systems this will be stated in your account view. This will add all your savings from all computers to your account.

Tell me how many computers you are running.

TreeHugger gives a lukewarm review, but the comments are more positive.

*Reality check: 1.8 billion gallons of oil is equivalent to 42,857,142 barrels of oil. LC uses gallons to make their numbers look bigger. According to US Dept of Energy November 2006 statistics, the US consumes 20,802,000 barrels/day, so 100,000,000 computers for a year on LocalCooling will save two days U.S. oil consumption.

Obviously a lot more has to be done to solve the problems of global warming, but I have to start somewhere.

More stats:

Annual U.S. oil consumption 7,592,730,000 barrels
Local Cooling savings as a percentage: 0.56

World oil consumption: 83,990,000 barrels/day
Annually: 30,656,350,000
Local Cooling savings as a percentage: 0.13

Canadian oil consumption: 2,280,000 barrels/day
Annually: 832,200,000
Local Cooling savings as a percentage: 5.14

Are there 100,000,000 computers in Canada?:-)

Seed ball making workshop - March 10, 2007 1 - 4pm

Al Pasternak — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 09:33:14 -0800

"Seed Balls are one half inch diameter models of the living world. They can contain all the seeds for a complete habitat, for a wild or domestic garden. In a holographic way, each ball can contain the whole plant potential of the entire ecosystem. They require a fraction of the cost of planting or drilling and are hundreds of times faster. They can be made by anyone anywhere in the world where there is clay, soil, seed and water. Seed balls work on all scales, small to large, and can be air dropped over broad areas! Hundreds of kinds of mixed seeds, soil humus and dry powdered red brown clay, form the solid components of seed balls. When mixed with water and rolled into balls, they become little Adobe Gardens."

http://commgardens.meetup.com/56/calendar/5475548/

When: Saturday, March 10, 2007, 1:00 PM

Where: Mount Pleasant Community Center
3161 Ontario Street
Vancouver , BC V5T 2Z1

Description:

We will be supplying

Seed - Crimson clover, White dutch clover, grass seeds, wild flowers
bring your own seeds to add to the mix - California poppy welcome

Red Clay

Compost

Mixing bowls

You will need to bring

a container for taking your seed balls home - something like a small pizza box so that the seed balls won’t be stacked too high on top of each other, they will be fragile.

At the end of the day…

You will be able to take 1/3 of the seed balls home for your own use and experimentation
The other 2/3 will be used to populate a guerrilla garden site at 7th and Hemlock

A planting day will be arranged within three weeks of the workshop date.

There is a $5.00 fee for this event.

Vancouver Guerrilla Gardening Meet-Up Group - Saturday January 27

Al Pasternak — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 12:38:39 -0800

Update: Blog entry about this event here

The first get together of a new guerrilla gardening group. Come discuss strategies for attack and brainstorm ideas. Bring with you ideas to share such as: your motivations for getting involved, creative ways to provoke interest, nurseries which sell cheap native seeds, locations to target, plant lists for exposed and sunny sites with poor soils…and anything else you can imagine that relates to the cause. The meeting takes place at 1:00pm. For further info email orenATearthtonedDOTnet. To sign up for the event, or to learn more about the group, visit: http://commgardens.meetup.com/56/?gj=sj5. A small meeting fee of $1 per person covers the first month of this meetup’s online posting. An additional cost of $5 will go towards having the event catered with healthy snacks.

I will be there.

Resolution: Declutter update - Do it now

Al Pasternak — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 23:05:56 -0800

Hi,

Today was a normal day, like any other day. For breakfast I made some quinoa and was getting ready to add some hot sauce to my bowl when I saw that the cap was plugged. Uh, oh. I pointed it away from my face as I ran it under the tap and when I squeezed bottle a bit too hard, it splattered all over my kitchen wall.

I know that two months ago, the spicy Jackson Pollock design would stay there for a few days or longer, simply because it didn't bother me. Today, it did and I cleaned it up right away. [I've taken another look tonight, not a spot remains.] But the real surprise came a few hours later.

In my haste to clean up the first mess, I left my breakfast making dishes on the counter and as I was getting ready to leave the house, I noticed them and the space they occupied. I thought to myself, "I don't like the way that looks." It was a bit of a rush job and some of the dishes are now in the sink waiting to be washed and dried but within five minutes, I once again had some open space on my kitchen counter.

Very nice.

Cheers,