Hi friends,
Our latest video, ORN#9 Hydropower at Hoover Dam, is now online and ready for your viewing pleasure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NvyAlSeZFc
We visited Hoover Dam in Boulder City, Nevada (pronounced Nev-aaaa-da) to get an up-close example of big hydroelectric power. Hoover Dam is one of the largest hydropower dams in the U.S. and a national landmark…plus it was on the way.
I didn’t want to just show up with a video camera and try to interview someone there, so I called ahead to set up something official. The contact I spoke with told me about the filming fee for Hoover Dam, which was…significant to say the least. That wasn’t going to work. Fortunately, I contacted several different people and got a reply from someone else there who gave us the in, and we interviewed one of the tour guides for Hoover Dam which worked out great! We got to tag along on the tour and film inside the dam, which is a rare treat.
Hydroelectric dams produce most of the renewable electricity in the U.S., and Energy Secretary Steven Chu said that we could easily double the hydropower in this country by replacing older inefficient turbines and adding new capacity to existing dams. In fact, only 3% of the country’s 80,000 dams produce electricity – most are used for irrigation, flood control, and water treatment.
Hoover Dam produces 2,080 megawatts of electricity every year – that’s an incredible amount of power. That’s three times more power than the world’s largest wind farm we visited in Roscoe, Texas, and it’s a constant base-load source of electricity. It’s enough to supply 1.3 million homes with power!
There are very real environmental impacts for hydroelectric dams. Dams can greatly affect the ecology of a river system. Some dams build up lakes as storage behind the dams and others are run-of-river dams that let the water flow through. While flooding areas to become lakes behind the dams dramatically changes the ecosystem, some people argue that harnessing and controlling the river flow offsets the damage that comes from seasonal flooding. Of course, that’s a natural cycle too. There are lively debates on the environmental impacts of hydroelectric dams.
I included an internet-only video extra that is just for a bit of fun, ORN Extra: Bodies in Hoover Dam. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4teeOCLqxs)
While on the tour, the guide addressed the old rumor that there are bodies buried in Hoover Dam. There were, in fact, 96 men who died on-site during the construction of the dam between 1931 and 1936, but beyond that I’ll let the video give you the answer. This video extra is not going to be included in the DVD to distribute to schools – it’s a bit dark and off-topic for that. I included it online because it’s an interesting snippet about the dam, and it may be the kind of short video that gets passed around and generates a lot of hits - we’ll see.
Be well,
Colin
Showing posts with label our renewable nation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label our renewable nation. Show all posts
Monday, July 5, 2010
Monday, December 14, 2009
Our first eco-video is ready!
Hi friends,
At long last, our first video from our cross-country eco-video series is ready and uploaded to Youtube for your enjoyment:
This first video is an interview with Jeff Cresswell at Klean Kanteen, a company in Chico, CA that makes stainless steel water bottles. Jeff talked to Carrick about the benefits of using stainless steel water bottles over the disposable plastic ones. This is a really interesting topic with lots of angles, but we are focusing on the question of sustainability.
We have a handful of Klean Kanteen bottles at home and use them constantly, so I can attest first-hand that they are very durable and convenient. We also have several SIGG bottles, which are aluminum and haven’t held up quite as well. We got a recall notice lately from SIGG, saying that their bottles have an inside lining that contains BPA (Bisphenol A), a controversial ingredient in some plastic that is thought to be potentially hazardous, so we sent the old ones back and we are getting new ones without the BPA lining (gee, I feel so much safer). Klean Kanteen, on the other hand, is made from stainless steel and has no lining – it’s an inert material that doesn’t need a lining. I’m seeing metal water bottles pop up all over the place in catalogs and stores now, so you may want to look closely before you buy to see what kind of metal the bottle is made from. If you see a big metal water bottle for $1.99, be aware of what you’re buying.
I recently read Daniel Goleman’s book, ‘Ecological Intelligence’ which talks about life cycle analysis of different products, and what products are really “green” and what is “green-washing”. He talks about stainless steel water bottles and isn’t so enthusiastic – he claims that because of the energy needed to produce a stainless steel water bottle and transport it to the store, it would need to be used 70 times before having a lower eco-impact as disposable plastic water bottles. There are lots of variables that go into that analysis so I take it with a grain of salt. We’ve used our Klean Kanteens hundreds of times and they keep right on going. One of the major benefits of the stainless steel water bottles is that they are 100% TRULY recyclable, meaning they can be melted down and reused again and again to make new stainless steel water bottles, not downcycled like plastic bottles. If the bottles were made from recycled steel and made in the U.S., that statistic of using the bottle 70 times would be very different.
One thing I really wanted to make sure we covered in this video is drinking water from the tap and public drinking fountains. I’ve seen many times people advocate tap water instead of buying plastic water bottles, but nobody seems to acknowledge that in so many parts of the country the water tastes awful! I know – we drove it! One of the first things I did when we got home to Sutton was drink several glasses of water – I take for granted that our wonderful home well-water just comes in endless supply for us to drink. Fortunately, different kinds of water filters for the whole house, sink, or a water filter pitcher are easy ways to make tap water taste much better in places where it’s not good.
Another issue is convenience – buying a bottle of cold water on a hot day is a relief! The bottled water companies don’t hesitate to point that out, and they’re right. If bone-chilling cold water is what you want then it’s a lot less convenient to bring your own bottle. It’s also interesting to consider that most of what convenience stores sell for drinks, like soda, juice, iced tea, etc is really bottled or canned water, with flavoring and sugar added.
As a side note, many companies that sell disposable plastic water bottles officially recommend NOT reusing their bottles. That’s not just because they would rather keep selling you new bottles; disposable plastic bottles are not designed to be reused. They were never meant to be refilled and used again. There’s a lot of media online about plastic from bottles leaching into the water. Personally, I find that water in plastic bottles usually tastes like….plastic water. I don’t need studies to tell me it’s leaching, I can taste it.
In the interview at Klean Kanteen, Jeff also talked about how the company got started – it was interesting but I ended up leaving it out of the video. It began as a response to reusable plastic water bottles, such as Nalgene bottles, that were a big trend 5-10 years ago but became a big controversy with…our old friend, Bisphenol A again. You may remember hearing about BPA found in plastic baby bottles and that caused a big stir in the media. Klean Kanteen was started to offer stainless steel as an alternative and was marketed more to the sports enthusiasts at stores like REI. As disposable plastic water bottles became more of an environmental concern, Klean Kanteen has been getting more recognition from the green movement.
So, I hope you enjoy our first video from the trip. Now that I have the basics of using the video editing program, Final Cut, things should move much more quickly and we should be putting the videos out regularly. The Klean Kanteen video is also on the OurRenewableNation.org website, embedded from www.GoGreenTube.com instead of YouTube so that all you teachers can access it in schools (schools generally block websites like YouTube).
Thanks again for all your support in making this eco-video series happen! Please send this email to friends and family who you think would enjoy our video, and encourage them to sign up for our email list so they can get the videos as soon as they go online, just like you!
Be well,
Colin
--
Our Renewable Nation, A Cross-Country Eco-Video Adventure
www.OurRenewableNation.org
At long last, our first video from our cross-country eco-video series is ready and uploaded to Youtube for your enjoyment:
This first video is an interview with Jeff Cresswell at Klean Kanteen, a company in Chico, CA that makes stainless steel water bottles. Jeff talked to Carrick about the benefits of using stainless steel water bottles over the disposable plastic ones. This is a really interesting topic with lots of angles, but we are focusing on the question of sustainability.
We have a handful of Klean Kanteen bottles at home and use them constantly, so I can attest first-hand that they are very durable and convenient. We also have several SIGG bottles, which are aluminum and haven’t held up quite as well. We got a recall notice lately from SIGG, saying that their bottles have an inside lining that contains BPA (Bisphenol A), a controversial ingredient in some plastic that is thought to be potentially hazardous, so we sent the old ones back and we are getting new ones without the BPA lining (gee, I feel so much safer). Klean Kanteen, on the other hand, is made from stainless steel and has no lining – it’s an inert material that doesn’t need a lining. I’m seeing metal water bottles pop up all over the place in catalogs and stores now, so you may want to look closely before you buy to see what kind of metal the bottle is made from. If you see a big metal water bottle for $1.99, be aware of what you’re buying.
I recently read Daniel Goleman’s book, ‘Ecological Intelligence’ which talks about life cycle analysis of different products, and what products are really “green” and what is “green-washing”. He talks about stainless steel water bottles and isn’t so enthusiastic – he claims that because of the energy needed to produce a stainless steel water bottle and transport it to the store, it would need to be used 70 times before having a lower eco-impact as disposable plastic water bottles. There are lots of variables that go into that analysis so I take it with a grain of salt. We’ve used our Klean Kanteens hundreds of times and they keep right on going. One of the major benefits of the stainless steel water bottles is that they are 100% TRULY recyclable, meaning they can be melted down and reused again and again to make new stainless steel water bottles, not downcycled like plastic bottles. If the bottles were made from recycled steel and made in the U.S., that statistic of using the bottle 70 times would be very different.
One thing I really wanted to make sure we covered in this video is drinking water from the tap and public drinking fountains. I’ve seen many times people advocate tap water instead of buying plastic water bottles, but nobody seems to acknowledge that in so many parts of the country the water tastes awful! I know – we drove it! One of the first things I did when we got home to Sutton was drink several glasses of water – I take for granted that our wonderful home well-water just comes in endless supply for us to drink. Fortunately, different kinds of water filters for the whole house, sink, or a water filter pitcher are easy ways to make tap water taste much better in places where it’s not good.
Another issue is convenience – buying a bottle of cold water on a hot day is a relief! The bottled water companies don’t hesitate to point that out, and they’re right. If bone-chilling cold water is what you want then it’s a lot less convenient to bring your own bottle. It’s also interesting to consider that most of what convenience stores sell for drinks, like soda, juice, iced tea, etc is really bottled or canned water, with flavoring and sugar added.
As a side note, many companies that sell disposable plastic water bottles officially recommend NOT reusing their bottles. That’s not just because they would rather keep selling you new bottles; disposable plastic bottles are not designed to be reused. They were never meant to be refilled and used again. There’s a lot of media online about plastic from bottles leaching into the water. Personally, I find that water in plastic bottles usually tastes like….plastic water. I don’t need studies to tell me it’s leaching, I can taste it.
In the interview at Klean Kanteen, Jeff also talked about how the company got started – it was interesting but I ended up leaving it out of the video. It began as a response to reusable plastic water bottles, such as Nalgene bottles, that were a big trend 5-10 years ago but became a big controversy with…our old friend, Bisphenol A again. You may remember hearing about BPA found in plastic baby bottles and that caused a big stir in the media. Klean Kanteen was started to offer stainless steel as an alternative and was marketed more to the sports enthusiasts at stores like REI. As disposable plastic water bottles became more of an environmental concern, Klean Kanteen has been getting more recognition from the green movement.
So, I hope you enjoy our first video from the trip. Now that I have the basics of using the video editing program, Final Cut, things should move much more quickly and we should be putting the videos out regularly. The Klean Kanteen video is also on the OurRenewableNation.org website, embedded from www.GoGreenTube.com instead of YouTube so that all you teachers can access it in schools (schools generally block websites like YouTube).
Thanks again for all your support in making this eco-video series happen! Please send this email to friends and family who you think would enjoy our video, and encourage them to sign up for our email list so they can get the videos as soon as they go online, just like you!
Be well,
Colin
--
Our Renewable Nation, A Cross-Country Eco-Video Adventure
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Presentations Aplenty
Hi friends,
We've been keeping our presentation schedule full for the spring, with a goal of 2-3 talks each week to spread the word about our cross-country eco-video project. 2 months to go! Yikes, so much left to do!
Last weekend we set up a presentation for homeschoolers at our friend's yoga studio in Worcester, Flowforms Yoga. We emailed all the local homeschool groups but were unlucky that day - nobody showed. On Sunday we gave a presentation at the Worcester library and had great help promoting it from the Regional Environmental Council in Worcester, but only a handful of people showed up. That was disappointing, because we're needing to spread the word in a BIG way right now. These library talks have been spotty in attendance at best, so I think we'll pass on that strategy.
Today I exhibited at the Massachusetts Environmental Educator Society's annual conference at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. There were several hundred people there, both science teachers and educators who run different environmental programs. It was a great place to be to spread the word about our project and network with other environmental groups in Massachusetts. Having the support of environmental educator associations will be key to promoting our video project and distributing our video series on a national level once it is completed. I got a lot of enthusiastic feedback from teachers who are excited about what we're doing and who are anxious to follow our cross-country journey in their classrooms. Our Postcard Program fundraiser was also a big hit as well.
For fairs and conferences, we're planning to give a workshop and exhibit at the Maynard Energy Fair this Saturday in Maynard, Massachusetts and also give a workshop and exhibit at the Maine Environmental Educator Association annual conference on March 27.
Carrick and I were invited to be part of the Celebrity Reader series for Millbury public TV, and tonight we went into the studio to film our part. Local notable people are invited for a weekly program for kids to read kid stories, but instead of reading stories Carrick and I talked about our trip and showed how to read maps. We had a fun time on the show, and they are planning to include some of our videos we brought on DVD. The program doesn't appear online, so only residents of Millbury and Sutton will see it on TV.
I posted a short new video about the solar-powered wind turbine toy that I mounted to the dashboard of our car. People ask about it and I had the footage already, so I just put it together and posted it on various video websites. Already 1,200 hits in a few days - go figure. Here's the URL for it if you want to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a067XLOooEI
So that's the update for this week. Another foot of snow on Monday, and California is still 2 months away...
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
We've been keeping our presentation schedule full for the spring, with a goal of 2-3 talks each week to spread the word about our cross-country eco-video project. 2 months to go! Yikes, so much left to do!
Last weekend we set up a presentation for homeschoolers at our friend's yoga studio in Worcester, Flowforms Yoga. We emailed all the local homeschool groups but were unlucky that day - nobody showed. On Sunday we gave a presentation at the Worcester library and had great help promoting it from the Regional Environmental Council in Worcester, but only a handful of people showed up. That was disappointing, because we're needing to spread the word in a BIG way right now. These library talks have been spotty in attendance at best, so I think we'll pass on that strategy.
Today I exhibited at the Massachusetts Environmental Educator Society's annual conference at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. There were several hundred people there, both science teachers and educators who run different environmental programs. It was a great place to be to spread the word about our project and network with other environmental groups in Massachusetts. Having the support of environmental educator associations will be key to promoting our video project and distributing our video series on a national level once it is completed. I got a lot of enthusiastic feedback from teachers who are excited about what we're doing and who are anxious to follow our cross-country journey in their classrooms. Our Postcard Program fundraiser was also a big hit as well.
For fairs and conferences, we're planning to give a workshop and exhibit at the Maynard Energy Fair this Saturday in Maynard, Massachusetts and also give a workshop and exhibit at the Maine Environmental Educator Association annual conference on March 27.
Carrick and I were invited to be part of the Celebrity Reader series for Millbury public TV, and tonight we went into the studio to film our part. Local notable people are invited for a weekly program for kids to read kid stories, but instead of reading stories Carrick and I talked about our trip and showed how to read maps. We had a fun time on the show, and they are planning to include some of our videos we brought on DVD. The program doesn't appear online, so only residents of Millbury and Sutton will see it on TV.
I posted a short new video about the solar-powered wind turbine toy that I mounted to the dashboard of our car. People ask about it and I had the footage already, so I just put it together and posted it on various video websites. Already 1,200 hits in a few days - go figure. Here's the URL for it if you want to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a067XLOooEI
So that's the update for this week. Another foot of snow on Monday, and California is still 2 months away...
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
