These tires must be really valuable.
Or maybe they were just very naughty.
On the valuable side, a single 12 foot diameter coal mining truck tire can run as much as $40,000, and they don’t last all that long.
On the naughty side, Americans generate about 285 million scrap tires each year. Estimates for the number of those tires being recycled range as high as 200 million. Even then, I’d hate to know where the other 85 million tires are ending up.
I think we’re all pretty well up to date on what happened when credit flowed freely and the housing market went off on a nice roller coaster ride. The economic implications seem plain to see on city, state and national levels.
This little spec number has been on the market for many months, and illustrates two sad things that also happened as a byproduct of the housing boom. The first changes things at the scale of the city block, where a horrendous addition degrades the character of the neighborhood. The second one impacts the environment, thanks to the sheathing of the house in vinyl siding. For more on the wonders of poly-vinyl chloride check out the documentary Blue Vinyl, or go to www.bluevinyl.org
Directions:
Cook one batch of fresh spinach in a large pan over medium heat with a healthy pinch of red pepper flakes. Allow to cool to room temperature. Drain liquid and save, reserving the spinach for later use.
Pour liquid into shot glass and garnish with thyme flowers. For an extra boost, try adding a splash of Prairie organic vodka.
The High Bridge power plant being disassembled piece by piece.
As the process continues over the coarse of the summer we watch huge piles of individual pieces grow higher and higher. A heap of steel, a mountain of broken concrete, mounds of bricks, wood, aluminum and much more.
Seeing the materials stripped away layer after layer and then having them re-presented to you in enormous piles seems to sharpen your thinking about just how many resources and how much energy goes into what we build, whether it’s a power plant, another freeway lane or a cabin in the woods.
In fact, according to the National Institute of Building Sciences, building construction and operation the the US accounts for 39% of total energy use, 12% of total water consumption, 68% of total electricity used and 38% of carbon dioxide emissions.
Right in the center of this bulls eye mirror sits an image of the freshly decommissioned Xcel Energy High Bridge power plant in St. Paul Minnesota. The old coal fired plant was taken off line and replaced with a new plant powered by natural gas in 2008.
As of April of 2009, there were 27 new coal fired plants being built in the US, with another 21 either starting construction soon, or under permit to build.
Worldwide, there are some 55,000 coal burning plants, with more being added every day.
In Hot, Flat and Crowded, Thomas Friedman does a nice job looking into some of these deep and tangled energy issues: “Wherever governments can raise most of their revenues by simply drilling a hole in the ground rather than tapping their people’s energy, creativity and entrepreneurship, freedom tends to be curtailed, education underfunded and human development retarded.”
Best chicken ever.
Period.
With apologies to hard working poultry farmers everywhere, I make this claim for Bar 5 Meat and Poultry.
Hailing from Arlington Minnesota, Bar 5 is an independent family owned farm. A good place to find them is at the St. Paul (or Minneapolis) farmers market, where you can meet your favorite local food producers in person and get just about anything that they offer. But since we’re talking about chicken here, let’s find some new facts to ponder:
1. The estimated world chicken population rose from about 13.5 billion in 1998 to 35 billion in 2006.
2. It seems that the US has no standard for “free-range” chicken eggs, meaning anyone can label eggs that way, even if they are produced in cages.
3. The US Department of Agriculture was established in 1839, with a budget of $1,000. According to the 2009 USDA budget summary, total outlay is estimated to be $97,000,000,000 this year.
If reading all those hard hitting factoids made you hungry, I strongly recommend that you procure a Bar-5 Chicken at top speed and commence to roasting it. Your chicken world will never be the same.
So I found this little guy on the back of some 3M brand sandpaper. If I read the drawing right, I’m supposed to wear an apron, gauntlet length gloves, a respirator, safety goggles and a full face shield when using this product.
Now if that’s what you should wear to do some sanding, what do you think you should have on when you operate a chain saw?
Useless fact of the day: The first recorded instance of sandpaper was in 13th century China when crushed shells, seeds, and sand were bonded to parchment using natural gum.