I filled up with biodiesel after work today and on my way out the door this morning I saw the local community paper on the lawn with a front page article about the biodiesel co-op. I had been under the assumption that the biodiesel we were getting currently came from soybeans (which, while not ideal, still seems better than conventional fossil fuels and other high cost food-based fuels like ethanol from corn). I learned the other day and confirmed today that it is actually coming from animal fats, so it's coming from a by-product and not a raw food source* -- which is good. So I guess my car is a meat-eater while we wait for the long-term goal of producing our own biodiesel from waste veggie oil salvaged from restaurant friers. And in the meantime I'll try not to wonder too hard whether that animal fat is coming from factory farms.
Hard to believe it's already been five years--happy anniversary, Janel! Here's something I found while cleaning up my harddrive the other day, from the wedding reception.
I just came across this video. It's an entertaining journey through the life cycle of "stuff" and worth the watch. It is 20 minutes long, but it's fascinating and very well done. Click here to watch.
From the intro on their site:
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in
our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is
hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff
exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and
social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and
just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it
just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.
My brother-in-law was talking Canadian politics last night and he told
me about the Liberal Party's "Green Shift" plan. He said it appears to
be the defining issue so far for the next election, with the
Conservatives frothing at the mouth in outrage at (and perhaps fear of)
the plan, and the Liberals casting the revenue-neutral plan (“For every
dollar raised in taxes there will be a dollar returned to Canadians in
tax cuts") as the solution to the economy, environment, and everything.
I haven't read the details of the plan yet, but it does sound like a
good direction to start thinking in, and the boiled-down soundbite is
pretty compelling: Tax things you want to discourage (pollution, waste)
and reduce taxes on things you want to encourage (income, innovation).
James Dobson doesn't speak for me.
He doesn't speak for me when he uses religion as a wedge to divide;
He doesn't speak for me when he speaks as the final arbiter on the meaning of the Bible...
I filled up with biodiesel after work today and on my way out the door this morning I saw the local community paper on the lawn with a 
Hard to believe it's already been five years--happy anniversary, Janel! Here's something I found while cleaning up my harddrive the other day, from the wedding reception.
My brother-in-law was talking Canadian politics last night and he told
me about the Liberal Party's "Green Shift" plan. He said it appears to
be the defining issue so far for the next election, with the
Conservatives frothing at the mouth in outrage at (and perhaps fear of)
the plan, and the Liberals casting the revenue-neutral plan (“For every
dollar raised in taxes there will be a dollar returned to Canadians in
tax cuts") as the solution to the economy, environment, and everything.
I haven't read the details of the plan yet, but it does sound like a
good direction to start thinking in, and the boiled-down soundbite is
pretty compelling: Tax things you want to discourage (pollution, waste)
and reduce taxes on things you want to encourage (income, innovation).
For whatever reason,