Pretty and Self-sufficient: The Flowerbed Improved

As springtime rolls in, you might be ready to spruce up the yard, drag out the lawnmower and maybe plant some flowers to brighten the season. While pretty, even a flower garden can do more than just look pretty. There are a number of edible plants that you can add to the rotation that will spice up your favorite springtime dishes as well. 

Looking for ground cover? Mint is delicious muddled into a refreshing beverage or incorporated into a savory dish. The plant itself makes excellent ground cover and it’s pretty low maintenance even if you don’t have the greenest of green thumbs. Be careful, though. Mint will take up a mile if you give it an inch so it doesn’t really play well with others. Oregano and marjoram are resilient herbs that will spread on their own and are common kitchen staples. Sorrel, also edible, provides excellent cover for plants that might be closer to the ground. While you might be familiar with rosemary as the bush-like plant that can grow into a monster-sized shrub, there’s also a trailing or creeping version that will spread out and cover quite a bit of ground while staying pretty low.

Looking for plants to form an edible hedge instead? We’ve already mentioned rosemary. This very tasty herb can get quite large so make sure you give it some room to spread. Many of our favorite berries can serve as a great privacy hedge and some provide us with fresh berries in season as well! Blueberries, blackberries, and elderberries can all be cultivated into a fruit-bearing barrier. Cherry plums and damsons can also serve as a hedge with rewards.

Maybe you are just looking for some pretty plants with bonus features. Lavender sports tiny, purple flowers that will brighten any landscape. Red Orach is a vibrant purple-leafed plant that can serve as an excellent accent plant but is also a part of the spinach family. Amaranth is a pretty plant with a number of options for snacking. The leaves can be used in salad and cooked as well. The flowers are dramatic, large bunches coming in pinks, purples, red and gold. If you want to feed the local hummingbird population naturally, honeysuckles are also a very pretty choice. The plant itself might not be as flashy as the others, but it attracted a wide variety of showing guests.

Farmers’ markets and established local nurseries are a great place to learn about which plants will do the best in your growing zone. You are also more likely to find someone who can talk to you with some experience about which plants will grow well together. We are experiencing strains on our food supply and our climate stability is breaking down. Growing some food of your own with the same resources you might spend on annual flowers is an excellent small change to increase your personal self-sufficiency. It’s also fun! Share your favorite plants to grow below!

Resources: 

Gardening Know How 

Shrubs - Edible Landscaping 

Edible Hedge Plants That Serve as Both Privacy and Food 

Pathways for the Future

Today we are featuring another very cool innovation that has actually been around for several years but it is getting a little more press right now! You are probably pretty familiar with the concept of renewable energy but let’s do a quick review. Renewable energy is any source of energy that is sustainable and doesn’t run out. For example, we don’t run out of sunlight and (for now) it is a bottomless resource that we can utilize. Other examples of renewable energy are wind energy, hydro energy, tidal energy, and geothermal energy. If you’ve ever driven across the US, you’ve probably come across wind farms. These farms harness air movement to generate clean energy. This energy is then used to supplement the grid, reducing the power obtained from fossil fuels.

      It’s a similar pattern with the other sources of clean energy, with an environmental constant providing energy simply through its existence and technological utilization. Alternatively, the type of energy currently being talked about is not from an environmental constant but something we, as human beings, create by living. A human-generated kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is  often thought of as the energy of movement. If you’ve ever seen one of those lines of wired balls where you lift and drop one on one side and when it swings down and hits the group, the ball on the other side swings up, you’ve seen the impact, no pun intended, of kinetic energy. Well, one company called Pavegen, has decided to utilize this type of energy to power the common amenities of common areas. Specifically, Pavegen has harnessed the kinetic energy produced by footsteps to power things like stadium phone chargers, street lights, and supplemental energy for shopping spaces. These triangular panels take the energy produced from being stepped on and transfer it into usable electricity.

Not only is this a very cool idea, but the utilization of these pads have been used to push for more general behavioral changes. For example, one shopping center wanted to push both the use of the Pavegen walkway and the use of their in store app. They incentivized the use of the walkway by connecting it to their store app and rewarding users with bonuses at retailers within the mall. Now, not only are shoppers incentivized to download the mall’s app but they were also rewarded for use of the Pavegen’s walkway. Little integrations like this one allow people to benefit from sustainable activities and ultimately assist in training overall better behaviors for our environment! A true win-win!

Car to Home Power?

How convenient would it be to be able to use your car to power your home? This seems like something you might see in a futuristic sci-fi. A shiny hovercraft collects solar power during the day and provides a power source for the AI-operated smarthome at night. While we might be a (small) way off from the hovercraft part of that picture, the solar/car charged home part is quickly becoming a reality. 

Vehicle-to-home charging, or V2H, is being introduced as the popularity of the electric vehicle is experiencing historic growth! Right now, a lot of us are seeing that relying on fossil fuels also requires us to rely on trade with global actors we may not always want to support. Electricity and solar offer more flexibility for us as a nation and as individuals. Whether you are a careful planner, ensuring that the next icy storm cutting you off from the grid doesn’t leave you without power, or you just want to save some significant cash from week to week by supplementing your grid use, V2H offers an appealing alternative. Let’s take a look at how it works!

A number of vehicles are already being designed with the capability to integrate with a bidirectional battery that would allow the user to return power to their home or, in some cases, the grid itself. The main thing currently in development is the system by which the home and grid would be equipped to effectively utilize that energy. Basically, your car would serve as a big battery that would hold and distribute unused energy. For example, the new Lighting F-150 is currently capable of powering a home for 3+ days and could probably do so longer if you used the power sparingly. Combined with solar power, this could be a resource capable of powering your entire home and returning some power to the grid. The F-150 would also make a stellar glamping vehicle if you are into bougie camping. 

To function as needed, this system would also need to be able to switch back and forth, seamlessly, between the car’s reserves and the grid. This would enable the owner to use the car’s power when they wanted without needing to be an electrical technician just to use this resource. Several cars like the Nissan Leaf and the Kia e-Soul are already equipped with the necessary hardware. Now we just need sophisticated bidirectional chargers to catch up! We are almost there! Several prototypes are in the testing phases and I can’t wait to see where we’ll be in another year or two as big name car companies compete to build what will become the next electric car community standard. Check out the articles below to learn more about what’s coming soon!

Resources:

Bidirectional chargers explained - V2G vs V2H vs V2L — Clean Energy Reviews

Can my electric car power my house? Not yet for most drivers, but vehicle-to-home charging is coming

Powerloop Live Stream 

https://www.dcbel.energy/blog/2022/01/12/new-year-new-bidirectional-cars/ 

The MORE Act: What you need to know!

Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act

The MORE Act was passed in the US House of Representatives this month, winning by less than 20 votes. Here are the highlights of what this bill is supposed to do:

The bill starts out by saying that the criminalization of cannabis has disproportionately impacted minority groups, particularly people of color, by incarcerating them more often (650% more often, in fact) and for 13.1 percent longer sentences, while at the same time, noting that less than one fifth of cannabis business owners are minorities with less than 4% identifying as black. Also, entering into the legal selling of cannabis is stacked against small business owners with licensing fees and applications to become a legal seller costing as much as $700,000. This makes it staggeringly difficult for smaller businesses to really engage in this market. In short, minorities and the less wealthy have less access to the benefits of this legal market and also take the brunt of the harm done. 

Additions to the bill since 2020 note that enforcing cannabis prohibition laws costs taxpayers approximately $3.6 billion a year and that one out of every four deportation cases was based on the simple possession (for personal use) of cannabis.

The next big finding at the beginning of this law was basically that most of the states have altered their state laws regarding cannabis in some way despite the federal criminalization. It is already a billion dollar industry and as more and more states join the group allowing freer use, the projected sales are almost double the billions previously seen. 

The bill goes on to talk about the decriminalization of cannabis, the striking of cannabis for the list of schedule 1 drugs (the most dangerous categorization of drugs currently which includes drugs like heroin, etc. ), and the process by which those incarcerated by federal law can seek expunged convictions and hearings. There is also a dilated change in terminology changing “marijuana” and “marihuana” to “cannabis.”

As expected, there is a long section about new taxes on the importation of cannabis and the production and sale of cannabis. Probably a third of this bill is about the new taxes which I’m sure surprises no one. There is an excise tax and an occupational tax. Both carry monetary penalties if not paid and even the possibility of jail time with a 2 year cap. Based on everything stated within their own findings, this does seem a little counterintuitive but when compared with the 15+ year sentences an individual could get now, it may be a step in the right direction. 

The rest of the bill, with the exception of the very end, deals with the fees, taxes, tax exemptions and penalties for not complying with the tax and other regulations. The very end describes several studies to be conducted to report the impact of the legalization of recreational cannabis. This bill is called the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act but only time will tell if it is truly a well-crafted bill that will tackle the challenges caused by the inclusion of cannabis in the war on drugs or if it will simply become a mechanism for the polarization of minorities to happen in a different way while the government reaps an additional profit. Even with its possible flaws, this bill will only make it into law if the Senate doesn’t squash it as expected. What would you like to see happen? Let us know below!

Resources:

The More Act (full text)

The More Act (Official Summary)

Asbestos: Finally Gone for Good

You may have been under the impression that asbestos was completely phased out of use in the US but today’s proposal by the EPA would suggest otherwise. The EPA has proposed a rule that will finally outlaw the use of asbestos for any purpose in the US in products like chlorine bleach, brake pads and more. Asbestos still kills around 107,000 people globally with around 15,000 of that number hailing from the US of A. Mesothelioma is a cancer caused by asbestos and the survival rate is around 40%. The average life expectancy after diagnosis is less than 3 years.

Previous to this move, the US has accepted that some percentage of the population will just have to deal with an increased risk due to their specialized jobs. These professions include:

• Asbestos miners

• Electricians

• Plumbers

• Pipefitters

• Insulators

• Shipyard workers

• Demolition Workers

• Brake Mechanics

• Selected Military personnel

• Home remodelers

The risk for Mesothelioma is increased if you have a parent who has had mesothelioma. Additionally, if you live with someone with increased risk, you can also be dangerously exposed. Asbestos fibers adhere to clothing and skin. It’s possible to reduce this risk by changing your clothes and showering before going home but over time, even smaller, more indirect exposures are enough to put family members at risk for illnesses like mesothelioma.

Now, the EPA is raising the bar to exclude ALL forms of asbestos, including chrysotile asbestos. This is a big step forward in protecting Americans in specialized roles from exposure as well. These are preventable deaths and it is good to see the EPA taking this stand.

Resources:

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/05/epa-moves-ban-asbestos-00022900

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/epa-rule-finally-ban-asbestos-carcinogen-83887317

A Surprising Exercise for the Brain

As we get older, the concern for neurological issues often becomes heightened. You might feel a little brain fog creeping in or you start to feel like your reaction time is slower or delayed. Often we try to mitigate these changes by doing more puzzles or reading more books! While these aren’t bad ways to engage the brain, there are some more literal exercises that give the brain a surprising power boost. You might say, “Of course! We already know that running, swimming and almost all aerobics exercises are good for mental health.” But did you know about squats? Squats, the joint stabilizing, glute-building workout that’s been shown to help almost every area of the body is now thought to also aid in stretching the capabilities of the brain!

Squatting causes a sort of famine-and-plenty, back-and-forth effect on blood flow through the brain and this variance is responsible for a measurable improvement in functioning. While something like a brisk walk might increase blood flow and boost memory functions within the brain, squats actually cause the brain to release all the chemicals responsible for learning and growth. 

Research has shown that squatting is one of the best exercises for reducing your risk of Alzheimer and dementia and improving your overall cognitive health. The best part about this is that squats are an exercise that the majority of people can do! Every age group can build up the strength to do squats. Even if you aren’t as strong as you used to be or are recovering from an injury, there are a number of variations and even assisted versions of the squat to make it useful for a wide range of people!

Squats range from the basic squat to versions that incorporate jumps or kicks or props. The traditional squat where you stand with your legs about shoulder width apart, your toes pointed slightly outward and your arms either relaxed or clasped in front of you and dip down like you are about to sit in an invisible chair, is just the start. The key to the foundational squat is to keep your back in a neutral position (not exaggeratedly arched or anything) and you knees apart and squeeze those glutes on the way up. You can go all the way down almost into the “egg” yoga position or stop when your thighs are parallel to the ground. This is what you would call a bodyweight squat but you can add to the difficulty level by grabbing some weights, increasing the load on your limbs. You can find squats that are challenging for literally any level of fitness. Take it slow at first and have fun with it! Make sure you are warming up and stretching out. Always practice good form, even if you have to go very slowly and enjoy the brain boosting power of squats!

Resource: 

Types of Squats - Heathline

Can squatting boost your brain power? - BBC REEL

Do Squats Every Day And See What Happens To Your Body 9 Reasons why you need to do squats 

https://youtu.be/c8Q8AyFjWZM 

https://www.healthline.com/health/squat-variations#bodyweight-squats 

Water: Let's Stop and Think Before We Run Out!

As we recognize another annual World Water Day, let’s take a moment to highlight some of the truths of our current Water Crisis. We’ve talked about the disparity in the water supply, contrasting the availability of water in most places within the US with places where clean water is scarce. We know that without water, our life expectancy and quality of life drops dramatically. In addition to this current reality for billions of people globally, it is important to note that climate change is setting us all up to experience this lack first hand. Not only should we be working to see that those currently without get their needs met in the near future, but we need to realize that without immediate action we are all facing a dire water supply problem. Namely, the danger of running out. 

The earth is covered with a bit of water but most of it, over 96% of it in fact, is salt water.  Of the remaining 3-4%, 90% of THAT is frozen, stored up in the world’s glaciers and ice caps. The remainder, some small 0.3% of the earth’s total water, is our unevenly distributed usable resource. 

If the glaciers are melting, doesn’t that mean that we are freeing up more of that fresh water to be used? Well, temporarily, perhaps, but there are several major problems with that.  First, it doesn’t take much to understand that the melted water from the glaciers will raise the world's water level, endangering communities that live along the coasts as they flood and are eventually eroded away. Millions of people live along the coast and this will not only destroy their homes, but displace them to other places, causing a sort of migration and a period of strain as resources will need to be redistributed accordingly around the world. Additionally, a lot of our agricultural heavy hitters like California will lose considerable acreage for food production. The rising water levels will reshape the world’s coastlines and the acreage lost will be significant. 

The domino effect of this loss of land is far reaching but there is another more direct result that affects many more than those living along the coast. Glaciers, besides being made of water, serve as a sort of fridge for the water that precipitates as snow during the colder months. During the summer, that snow melts and flows through most of the world’s major rivers and supplies a large portion of seasonal fresh water. If not for this phenomenon, the only water supplied to us would be that from precipitation. Also, due to climate change, we’ve seen a significant uptick in droughts so this issue is eating away at the usable water supply from both ends. If the glaciers melt away completely, something scientists say will happen by 2100 if we continue in our current trend, we will be wholly reliant on precipitation which is also experiencing detrimental changes. Dry weeks, months or even years could be in our future without the benefit of glacial runoff. Sometimes, in the US, it’s easier to forget that clean water is not unlimited. We go to the sink and clear water we could drink (though with PFAS contamination it wouldn't be advisable) comes out. A lot of us can shower everyday if we want and using clean water for yards and plants doesn’t even phase us. This issue though is one that will have serious consequences within our lifetime and may see our children without water for their more basic needs. We need to start realizing that water is a finite resource and without changing our usage practices, we will, essentially, run out!

Cows and Climate Change

Now that we’ve talked a little bit about why a 2 degree increase is so significant, let’s look at how we got here and what changes we could make to dial back the speed of global warming. You may have heard at this point that the burning of fossil fuels is impacting and accelerating the rate at which the earth is warming. C02 lingers in the atmosphere building up for years and years and the result is that bubble of greenhouse gases, trapping heat against the earth. Methane is also one of those gases and is thought to be almost 30 times as potent when it comes to the impacts of global warming than CO2. One of the biggest differences, however, is that Methane does not linger in the atmosphere nearly as long. It stays in up there just over a decade versus hundreds of years like CO2.

So, while we produce a large amount of methane from burning fossil fuels and industrialism, cows, goats and other livestock contribute over a third of the human caused methane production in the world. Take a look at this video to learn more.

As you can see, even though methane from cows is in the atmosphere for a much shorter period of time, because of its potency, alleviating this source of methane will still have a significant impact on our forecast of the future. This is probably our best opportunity to quickly reduce the level of methane we are releasing into the atmosphere. So what can you do?

Voting with your actions, your wallet and your vote are going to be the best ways to support mitigating the damage we’ve already done! Next time, let’s look at what will happen and is already happening if we don’t push for intensive change today!

Climate Crisis: What's 2 Degrees?

When we look at the state of our current climate crisis, we might ask ourselves, how did we get here? Why does it seem like we are watching all of these global catastrophes but instead of putting on the brakes, we are running straight into more? What’s all this talk about keeping the amount of global warming down under 1.5 degrees from here on out? We’ve already increased the earth's temperature with our industrialism and agricultural practices. What’s the big deal about these seemingly tiny temperature changes? 

Most of us are somewhat familiar with the concept of air pollution contributing to general atmospheric pollution which creates what we’ve labeled the greenhouse effect. This means that when heat builds up in the atmosphere, it isn’t able to disperse but is trapped near enough to the earth’s surface to raise the overall temperature. 

WARNING: MATH INCOMING! The temperature of the earth has risen about .14 degree Fahrenheit per decade since about 1880 but in the last 40 years, that amount per decade has more than doubled. You might think, well, what’s a few degrees? A little under 2 degrees Fahrenheit doesn’t seem like such a big deal. However, let’s consider for a second what kind of energy expenditure we are really talking about. For scale, let's think about your heating bill. If it's cold outside and you have a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home, all one level, 1500sq ft, in say, Tennessee, let’s estimate that your heating bill is $100/month (67,500 BTUs). Raising the temperature of your home (all other factors staying the same) two degrees will increase your bill a little bit but not a crazy amount for that space. Perhaps, 5% or 6% more money and the associated heat expenditure to raise the temperature in the whole house 2 degrees higher is minimal. Now your bill is $106. This isn’t really about the money but it may help illustrate the real point which is that in this space you are pumping in more heat to raise the temperature of the whole space. 

Now, you got a new job and bought a new house that has 5 bedrooms, 6 baths and is about 6,000 sq. ft. Now, it takes about $400 per month to heat your house. To raise the temp two degrees now, it would take $24 per month and the amount of heat needed to raise that temperature and fill that space is 4x as high. Now…imagine that you upgraded again but now your house is the size of a football field (57,600 sq. ft.). Now it costs $3,840/month to heat the house and $230.4 to increase the heat by 2 degrees.  You add a second story, and a third. In fact, you add stories to this house until you reach space. Roughly 27,500 stories to be exact. $105,600,000 is what it costs to heat your new house (ignoring the reality of environmental facts like it getting colder as you go up, etc.) for one month. A two degree increase will now cost $6,336,000. What if your house covered the entire earth which, fyi, would take more than 100 billion football fields? This is an imperfect analogy as there are a million little factors that impact actual atmospheric conditions and the energy required to raise earth temp 2 degrees. However, you can see how if we were talking about an atmosphere-sized house, the cost to heat it ($1.056e+19) and the cost to raise the temp two degrees($6.336e+17) would be…astronomical. More significant than the cost itself is the amount of heat it would be paying for. Roughly that equal to 125,340,652 atomic bombs. 

Now, consider this. Not only have we already trapped the necessary amount of extra heat in our atmosphere to increase the earth's temp 2 degrees but we are well on our way to doing it again in half the time. The livability of earth depends on our specific temperature among other things. If it raises again in this way, it’s estimated that roughly 20% of our wildlife and plant life will lose at least half of their habitat. Half! How many of those animals will die off because their survival is balanced on a tightrope already due to other factors? How many animals in the food chain depend on the ones that won’t survive?? Suddenly, 2 percent is a much, much bigger issue. Next time we will talk more about what is driving that temperature up and what we can do to actually impact the speed of that increase!   

6 Pressing Questions About Beef and Climate Change, Answered | World Resources Institute

Climate Change: Global Temperature | NOAA Climate.gov. 

Effects | Facts – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet.

Our planet is warming. Here's what's at stake if we don't act now. | Stories | WWF 

Blockchain: Securing the Supply Chain

We’ve talked a little bit about how blockchain as a system probably won’t solve all of our food fraud issues. This is mainly because blockchain still relies on the proper use and involvement of human beings. If someone is trying to commit fraud, they can and will still do so within the blockchain system. However, there are times when digitizing the food chain and using blockchain is useful. 

Recently, ENFIT, The International Association for Supply Chain Safety – Food Feed, Chemicals, hosted a webinar discussing the current lack of transparency in the food supply chain of events. They were, of course, putting their new product, Bulkvision, and the digitized, blockchain process forward as a solution but in order to do so, they first gave a very thorough summary of the current issues. 

One of the main issues discussed was the general lack of a standard when food left the source location. The source would be the farm and field for food items. We’ve all seen a chemical container driving down the highway. If you’ve ever seen an action movie with a high speed chance, you’ve probably done your best not to stay behind one for too long. What you might not know is that often, those same containers that are used to carry a toxic chemical, might next be used to carry grains and other foods. The current system requires the tank to be washed out before its use is changed but there is no standard for this process and cross contamination is a major problem. Most of the paperwork is handwritten and there are few checks on the process. 

During the webinar, an example was given where a truck came in to be cleaned and the paperwork claimed that the container was single purpose, food only use. However, when the cleaners opened it up, it smelled like petrol. They went back to the driver and he said there was no way he’d carried petrol. They went around and around and finally he brought a separate set of paperwork which showed the fuel transportation. They refused to clean the truck and the trucker moved on to another station, probably to be cleaned with less questions but the story illustrated how in a lot of situations, even if a station is vigilant, there might not be a way to really tell if the paperwork they are receiving is accurate and straightforward. 

Additionally, the condition of the containers themselves is varying and largely unmonitored. Contaminants like mold, bacteria, plastics and metals can mix with whatever is being carried and without proper maintenance, no one is the wiser. 

The suggested digitized blockchain method would utilize a digital stamp that would be used to “check-in” at all the major transitions for a shipment, allowing the company to precisely track the “where,” “when,” and “by whom,” for their shipments. It’s scannable and pairs with an app. The program also sets standards for cleaning the units and requires a minimum of time and a container quality checklist for things like bubbling and puckering from chemical stuff. 

In addition to setting standards, the electronic nature of the check-ins allows verification between deliveries so that more than just the driver can confirm the transport. While there are definitely still some gaps in this plan that would allow for intentional fraud, this would definitely reduce accidental or neglectful contamination and be part of a more consistent system. What are your thoughts on adoption blockchain? It makes a lot of sense and almost seems like something that should have been in place a long time ago. 

Bonus Notes: The presenter noted that some companies enjoy doing some things under the table and that might be one reason something like this was not adopted a long time ago. However, he said that because of covid, many companies are seeing the benefit of being more transparent in their business practices as consumers are favoring companies that do so. He believes that this might be one reason this concept is finally taking off.  

Resources: 

https://greatdane.com/microorganisms-of-concern-during-transport/ 

https://www.ifsqn.com/