Dads Go Green.com

How to reduce water and go green?

I can tell already there is going to be a drought situation in California for sure...I want to know how I can reduce water and go green? I really want to help my state any ideas?
btw: I'm already using buckets in the shower, I turn off the water when I brush my teeth, and I'm using left over water from anything to water my plants.

We are in a drought in CA, it depends on where you live as to what stage of water conservation you are required to do. In some areas there will be water rationing. We are at stage 2 in my community and will surely be at 3 or 4 when the final season water totals are reported in about 6 weeks.

You may want to check your city or county website for ideas, info on what stage you are in and rebates for water saving changes. I'll put the link to my cities water conservation page and the links to what the stages mean.

Here are some general ideas:
Use a car wash not a hose to wash your car.
Put a nozzle that automatically shuts off on any hose you use and check gaskets so there aren't any leaks.
Put aeriators on sinks, low flow shower heads in showers.
Take showers not baths, wash your hair a few less days a week and if possible switch to a shampoo/conditioner all in one, it reduces your shower by at least one rinse cycle.
You can cut the time you wait for hot water with a little planning, I turn the faucet to hot when brushing my teeth so I'm already getting the hot water to the bathroom a little sooner and try to shower immediately after my husband so I don't have to wait for the hot water a second time.
You can also turn the water down, many of us are in the habit of always turning the faucet all the way on. When I rinse dishes I put the water on just enough to rinse the food away, not spray it off.
Lawns are a huge waste of water and many people over water, my city is paying homeowners to remove lawns and put in water wise landscaping.
If you have a pool cover it when not in use, you can lose hundreds of gallons from evaporation.

Find free rain barrels?

I'm looking for free- or possibly cheap barrels to make a rain collection system. I'm in the Washington, DC area. Any ideas besides Craigslist?

We just go to the recycling center(waste management) here. They used to give away 55 gallon steel drums but now they are $5. The plastic drums are free.

Where can I find a cheap or free rain barrel for my school?

I'm trying to start a water conservation project at school. Where I can find a cheap rain barrel or free? Do you know of any organizations?

Join Freecycle .org, an online venture where members offer unwanted items, free to others. There are many local branches. You can post requests on the list for things you want, as well as offering to give.

http://www.freecycle.org/

Another venture which offers exchange of unwanted items is http://www.reuze.co.uk/

Another option is to approach local businesses (especially, but not exclusively, those who sell water butts) to see if anyone is willing to donate to a good cause. Don't be afraid to ask - often productive. Can be more fruitful in person than by phone; but writing, or email, is often sucessful too. Try to speak to someone with authority to grant your request. Many businesses keen to forge links with schools and earn brownie (or greenie) points.
Publicize the project in your local press and free papers (who will probably be happy to feature it), ask for support or things you need, you can thank anyone who contributes in a follow up - it's amazing what people with donate if they get public acclaim.

Oh, and some local councils were giving away water butts...don't overlook your local water authority either. You don't ask - you don't get...

Solar power?

We are looking at buying a house and renovating it, and were wondering about using solar or wind power to power much of our house. We will have a well, be on a septic system, have a wood burning furnace for heating the house, so we would like to have solar or wind power so we can use as little electricity as possible (its insanely expensive here!). We also have our appliances (fridge, stove, washer, dryer, freezer).
How much would a basic set up be for a 900 sq ft, 3 bedroom house? For either wind turbines or solar panels and necessary equipment? I am in Southern Ontario.

Go to canadiantire's web site and search solar panel.

they range from $30 -- $1000

I want to build a house, but I want to have all its electricity and heating done by solar and wind energy. Is?

I want to build a house, but I want to have all its electricity and heating done by solar and wind energy. Is that possible? Heck even has its water pump by solar/wind.

Of course. Our house is on electric, powered by a 5kw solar system. The AC, dryer, refrigerator, water heater is all electric. Our heat is from a wood stove, but we could put in a whole house electric heating unit if we wanted. No problem. I don't know much about wind energy, but I know a house can be powered solely by solar power. Putting in wind power would be another expense.

You would have to pay up front, when the house is bring built, but the monthly costs would be next to nothing (depending on whether you're hooked up to your electric company's grid versus on rechargeable batteries - out electric company changes us about $6/month for the privilege to be hooked up to their system).

What is the target market for hybrid cars?

What social demographic buys hybrid cars? Age, class, etc...? I've been researching it on the internet for awhile and wanted to see if anyone else knew. Thanks for your help.

I don't think there's any specific target market, unless you count environmentalists.

I own a Prius, and I'm a 26-year-old middle class dude. I've seen hybrid owners of all ages, though certainly poor people can't afford them.

How could i use a Tesla Coil in a science fair project?

I need a real project idea my science teacher said we have to be able to collect data from the experiment, at max 20 different sets of data ( I know the dangers of a Tesla coil and im using the schools) Thanks in Advance
Yeah the teacher said no humans as test subjects or animals...

Hmm. I don't know for certain if this will work, but it would be interesting if it did. You've seen the experiments where a fluorescent tube is lit up by the fields from a tesla coil, I assume?

Well, try measuring the voltage across a light tube near the coil, you could gather data for different orientations, and different distances. Do be careful, though. Don't want broken glass, or to touch the coil while manipulating the tube. Good luck

Why do car manufacturers make hybrid and electric cars ugly?

It seems as though most hybrid and/or electric cars built by the big manufacturers are very ugly to look at. Why is this? One could almost get the impression that they don't want them to sell.

Your question doesn't make much sense to me.

Most hybrids look identical to the non-hybrid model version. The only hybrid that looks different is the Prius, because it has no non-hybrid version, and is designed that way in order to make it the most aerodynamic car on the road, which is part of the reason it's got the best fuel economy available.

The Civic hybrid looks like the Civic, the Explorer hybrid looks like the Explorer, the Camry hybrid looks like the Camry, etc. etc.

As for EVs, for one thing again they have to make them aerodynamic, and there's not a big market for new technology anyway, so they're trying to make the cars appealing by making them look 'futuristic' or 'cool'. What you think is 'ugly' another person will think looks cool.

That being said, if you want a standard (some might call boring) looking EV, there is the Miles Javlon and Phoenix SUT:

http://www.milesev.com/index.asp#hsv.swf

http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/index.php