Your latest GREEN accomplishment

[karine]

I am just kind of wondering... what have YOU got going on in prep of the Greening of the Burn?!

[MikeVDS]

I have ideas but too many projects going on to actually do much. I did buy green pants that will turn into playa shorts.

The closest thing I have is a fountain/shower I'm making that runs off solar power.

If I get time I'll build some stuff off wind turbines.

[AmbiguousClown]

We just bought a 6-person surrey style bike for our virgin art project. We have a theme in mind, and hope to light it with deep cycle batteries and solar and/or wind. Taking advice and donations related to either. :-)

You can see a "before" picture in my Tribe profile (URL in my profile here).

[AntiM]

We have a two person bike which we light with a deep cell marine battery. We bring at least two so one can charge up during the day while the other one rides around. We don't just take it off and charge it because you never know when you'll be out on the deep playa at sunset.

Also good for running flourescent lights in camp.

[unjonharley]

We have a two person bike which we light with a deep cell marine battery. We bring at least two so one can charge up during the day while the other one rides around. We don't just take it off and charge it because you never know when you'll be out on the deep playa at sunset.

Also good for running flourescent lights in camp.

/
This year I'm using the solor panels as part of the shade over the trike. This will make the trike the charging station for the camp. I spend most of my time riding the trike. I will have to load batteries for nite travel for the art sculpture's running lites.

[Toolmaker]

I will be doing a somewhat minimalist thing for 07. NO RV!! NO A/C!! More than likely NO CAR BATTERIES!! I will be getting some solar cells since they are somewhat affordable now. I am doing alot through the year though. I started using ethanol in one of the CNC mills at work, no more nasty coolant. Plus the ethanol evaporates as it dissipates the heat from the carbide cutters leaving no residue. Saves us from the cleaning process which in turn saves water!! I got rid of my gas truck in favor of a diesel that I will hopefully convert to run on veggie oil and diesel sometime in the next couple of months. Doing the carpool to get to and from work, I have the Aveo filled now with 3 co-workers as of this week. It takes an extra 30 mins each way but we all save a ton of dough in gas savings!

[unjonharley]

Tool maker , you the man. doing a lot of good for yourself and saving money too. I know I burned a bunch of brain cells using cutting oils. You get 100 guys drilling all at one time. I worked nearer the ceiling of the plant for extra money. About 65 feet on 4and6 inch beams. Then breathed the residue butting rivets.

[Bob]

I'm going to burn shit, but paint it green instead of black first.

Don't worry, it's going to be edible paint.

[theCryptofishist]

I'm going to burn shit, but paint it green instead of black first.

Don't worry, it's going to be edible paint.

You could start growing moss on your timbers today!

[Myliatronic]

this will be my 3rd Burn..
Both years we have gone, we caught a ride with someone who was camping elsewhere, so there was never an RV or car involved in our camp, just our own little 'dome'-icile ;)

This year we will most likely do the same thing. My boyfriend is working on schematics for a small wind generator so we can do a bit of minimal lighting. Harbor freight carries solar self-charging LED color changey lantern things for like $10, I'm thinking I'm going to get a whole bunch and put them all over everything :)

This years theme combined with "An Inconvenient Truth" have motivated me to get off my lazy ass and recycle. Recylce pickup isn't available in our neighborhood so I just didn't for a long time. Not anymore. I have found myself compulsively "de-mooping" parking lots everywhere I go, saving bottles and cans to take to the recycle plant.

[ibdave]

After my SUV got totaled, I bought a toyota Hybrid.. Went from 17 mpg to
39mpg.... Toyota Camry. It's a small step in the right path..

[diane o'thirst]

I just tanked up with E-10, bought bulk staples, cut 'way the hell back on processed foods and I'm getting LED faerie lights next week. No more incandescents.

Edit: I just read about a camper van that drives like an SUV and gets better mileage, 24mpg. Whips the stuffing out of Nephthys Navajo but I can't afford the $60,000 price tag

[Toolmaker]

NOTE ABOUT ETHANOL IN MACHINING!!!

Only good for certain plastics, brass and aluminum et al. NO STEEL! SPARKS WILL IGNITE IT! High heat will ignite it also. I am using a cold air nozzle with a small hole drilled into the line coming out of the unit.. gravity feeding the ethanol for use in milling aluminum. I have a no-contact temp measuring gun that aids me in seeing how far I can push the tooling without generating too much heat. I originally got the idea from an article in a trade pub "Modern Machine Shop". The shop that uses it has fire suppression installed but does not use my method of delivery. They just use misters to spray the tooling. I think my method using cold air and ethanol is more effective at cooling the tool.

Sorry I forgot to make a complete post earlier, I hope no machinists out there lit their mills on fire.

[diane o'thirst]

A good deal of my project's skeleton will be made of scrap wood and laminated corrugated cardboard.

At home...I'm making a phased switchover from incandescent to CF bulbs. Some bulbs I can't switch out (like the ones over my bathroom mirror), but the rest will be CFs by this time next month.

[mdmf007]

Started driving a smart car to work instead of the Ford F450 dually Crew Cab. The ford gets 21 Miles agallon on highway (which is grea tfor a powerstroke diesel puching 10000 pounds. This little smart car gets 52 or so.
It should pay for itself in about 18 months.



And we also take three rigs to move 24-30 peoplpe from Boise to BM and back every year. One tractor trailer, and 2 suburbans

Like i was saying a ways back - i would have never guessed id be driving these things today, or giving a rats ass about what came out of the exhaust!!!
later all

[Toolmaker]

If memory serves that has a really nice engine made by Benz. Someone down here had 2 for sale that were brought down from Canada. The only reason I didn't get 1 is bacause I was worried about part availablity and cost. How does it handle? How fast have you driven it so far?

[diane o'thirst]

Gawd Damn!! Why didn't you sell your F450 to me? 21 mpg kicks ass on my Navajo's 15 and I need something strong to pull my horse trailer. Biodiesel is readily and fairly economically available around here, too.

[StevenGoodman]

I am just kind of wondering... what have YOU got going on in prep of the Greening of the Burn?!

Nothing! I will still drive my beatup old S-10 to Burning Man. Better than those silly old buses that I see dead on the way there.

I just convinced my main client to move to a new location, that cuts my drive in half? Isn't that better that some silly "Green" thing that only happens once a year? I have no clue what it does to the drive for the other 50 people who work there...

[StevenGoodman]

"It should pay for itself in about 18 months."

I currently pay less than $50 a month in gas to get to my main client and back. If I paid ZERO it would take me $50*300months=$15,000 to even get close to any kind of green car?

And I drive a nice 325HP Z28 Camaro. I just don't drive it very far. Way greener than my little green buddies, who drive their nice hybrids, 150 miles a day.

[Zhust]

I took an unused "power brick" (one of those plug-in transformers for equipment that's long gone) that was good for about 9 volts at 300mA or so along with a screw-in outlet adapter and bought a 350mA fixed DC BuckPuck and a Luxeon Star from LED Supply, wired it all together, and replaced the 5-watt compact fluorescent in my hallway with a 1-watt LED for less-but-perfectly-adequate light.

At this point I'm just trying it to see if it'll work ... in all it's about $25 for the LED and BuckPuck. I might be able to do away with the BuckPuck if I can get a small enough transformer that doesn't source much current, preventing the Luxeon from getting more than 350-400mA. If I had gone straight from the original 25-watt incandescent, it would have paid for itself in a year; from the CF, it'll take 5 years to pay off ... skipping the BuckPuck, it would be more like 1.5 years.

That and I'm working on a project to improve vehicle gas mileage. And one to give camps the ability to accurately estimate their energy needs and make smart choices about it.

[muzlin]

my hmble efforts include reducing sod by 20% and installing drought tolerant trees and shrubs with rudimentary drip system last fall. Upgraded irrigation project to install this year;

buy organic and local whenever possible; recycle; compost heap cranking well (yay decay!!);

commute 3 miles to work in dodge caravan and stay put at lunch break; consolidate trips; rideshare, walk, bike

Would love to do more, but need techo knowledge and budget (surprise)

Just plugging away as can for now

[unjonharley]

I take pride in what little Greening I can do.. It is easier for me being retired ..More time to learn and put into practice..

[metric]

In cooperation with the Earth Guardians, the Friends of Black Rock High Rock http://blackrockdesert.org will be doing a conservation project at the Coyote Spring mounds near Black Rock City, and we will be looking for volunteers at the event to participate. The spring-fed mounds, which are home to several plants and the occasional kit fox, are being decimated by off-highway vehicle use. The plan is to erect barriers or a buck-and-pole fence to stop this, and as a first step to rehabilitating the site with indigenous plants. Another part of this project will be to collect seed from nearby indigenous plants to sprout for replanting next spring. And, we may also do some noxious weed abatement at 2 other sites not far from BRC just off the playa at Cassidy Mine and near Mormon Dan Peak. The projects are all close to BRC so that volunteers will not feel too removed from the party, and this project is endorsed by the BLM and the Native Plant Conservation Initiative http://www.nfwf.org/programs/npci.cfm

The Friends of Black Rock has other events, hikes, and projects throughout the year. We will be launching our improved website in April-- send any questions or comments to [email protected].

[ScottV]

One 8 cell AA battery pack = 12 volts
+
one automotive replacement LED
=
over 7 days of light nonstop.

You could add a switch and use two bulbs or a 12V halogen replacement LED - but then you'd have to turn the thing on and off and it would cost way more.

I built 10 using domelight replacements that have 6 LEDs each.
Light has been running for 7-1/2 days with no noticeable dimming.
$11.33 per light not counting wire and solder (but including
the batteries, shipping, and tax - all from ebay). The battery pack with fit into 1-1/2" PVC pipe or something similar. Or just severely duct tape it to your art.

[gladeye]

Honestly, not enough - yet. I'm still figuring out how to come up with the right leds in the right configuration, on the right costume.

[HeartofGreen]

I am working on an insulated cooker, solar ovens, an all natural canopy system using saplings from the eastern shores of lake champlain and some wild lighting systems for the bus using batteries and solar panels to power them.
i also want to make some natural eclipse based moon art to signify some sacred space while the eclipse is happening.
javascript:emoticon(':D')
Very Happy

[gyre]

LEDs don't run on 12 volts.
You want to try to match their voltage as closely as possible unless they are being used in a vehicle.
Even then sometimes a large power supply is used for multiple LEDs.
For the home, fluorescents outperform LEDs, no contest.
They do vary in efficiency.

LEDs strength is their focal point and low voltage demands.
A tent kit made of 1 and 3 watt LEDs makes sense.
Any more light and it makes a lot more sense to use fluorescents.
12v dc fluorescents are widely available up to 40 watts.
The color is superior too.

A 3 watt led may use as much as 7.5 volts.
LEDs start out at 1.5 volts.
12 volt LEDs often burn up most of the power as heat.
The best LEDs by luxeon run about 25 lumens per watt.
I don't have a lumens per watt chart here.
I have a 13 watt compact fluorescent I paid $1.50 for.
It produces 800 lumens from 13 watts, call it 15 total.
That's more than double the light an LED set can produce and cheaper.
LEDs work extremely well in the cold.
That is an advantage on a cold night.
They dim in heat.

I buy 26 watt daylight (hi K) cfls from walmart for $3.
Top quality ones run around $10 each.
Fixtures are better when you can buy the best ones like PL-S ones.

If there is enough interest in 12 volt fluorescents I can find some references.
You can swap ballasts and use standard fixtures to save money.
12 volt cfls are available now.

[Zhust]

If there is enough interest in 12 volt fluorescents I can find some references.
You can swap ballasts and use standard fixtures to save money.
12 volt cfls are available now.

Automotive stores have CF worklights now that operate from 12 volts.

[Toolmaker]

If there is enough interest in 12 volt fluorescents I can find some references.
You can swap ballasts and use standard fixtures to save money.
12 volt cfls are available now.

Automotive stores have CF worklights now that operate from 12 volts.

I got one a LONG time ago.. like over a decade! It has a nice shockproof housing and can either plug into the cig lighter or I can use the aligator clips for the battery. Gyre brings up a great point.. while LEDs and Luxeon LEDs may be novel and all they are really expensive. I have a couple LED torches but if I was going to have "indoor" lighting on a 12v battery array in camp I would go with the CF due to the much lower cost. I can assure you that my LED torches generate a lot of lost juice through heat. 5watt Luxeon eats batteries and can only be used for about 30 minutes or so before getting REALLY hot.

[Finnegan]

I intend to invite aliens.. It’s OK; they’re green.